


Beneath Chicago

by PinkHitman



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Add more later - Freeform, Adventure, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Jokes, M/M, Magic, Romance, Tags, world building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2019-03-19 07:45:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 24,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13700019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkHitman/pseuds/PinkHitman
Summary: Congressional Decree number 14.Witches and wizards are not to enter into relationships with the Nomaj population. Not in friendship or in romantic partnership.Congressional Decree number 18.To insure that no magic is conducted in the presents of a muggle within the city of chicago and its surrounding suburbs, displaying your wand in a designated zone is illegal.Congressional Decree number 27. 1935With the rise in population of wizard kind, wizards may be allowed to seek non magic related jobs within ‘red’ zones only.Congressional Decree number 42. 1951Given the continued increase of the wizarding population, wizarding kind of Chicago shall be moved to a safe location underground.





	1. Above

**Beneath Chicago**

 

*** * * * ***

 

_Congressional Decree number 14. 1908_

    Witches and wizards are not to enter into relationships with the Nomaj population. Not in friendship or in romantic partnership. Any violation will result in the arrest of the witch or wizard in question. If it is discovered that the Nomaj has learned any secrets of the wizarding world, there mind shall be wiped and the witch or wizard in question will be charged any resulting damage fees.

_Congressional Decree number 18. 1929_

    To insure that no magic is conducted in the presents of a muggle within the city of chicago and its surrounding suburbs, drawing out your wand within one of the new designated ‘red’ or ‘black zones’ will be reprimanded with a fine. Frequent displays of ones wand, or using magic, will result in an arrest were depending on the situation your wand may be snapped. Wand users will note that Green zones are wildly available as are Yellow zones which magic can be used while under threat.

_Congressional Decree number 27. 1935_

    With the rise in population of wizard kind, wizards may be allowed to seek non magic related jobs within ‘red’ zones only. ‘ Black’ zones will remain off limits.

     Amendment to Congressional Decree number 14*  1935 

        Due to working alongside Nomaj, friendships and interactions are permitted between Wizard kind and Nomaj. Any romantic relations are still strictly forbidden and if found will result in any Nomaj party being subject to memory charms. The witch or wizard may be subject to a trial with punishments ranging from a fine, to breaking the wand.

_Congressional Decree number 42. 1951_

    Given the continued increase of the wizarding population, wizarding kind of Chicago shall be moved to a safe location underground. Witches and wizards may only be permitted to visit the surface if they are in the need to travel, to visit any magical administration or hospital building, to attend school, or to work. Witches and Wizards under the age of 17 may not visit the surface unattended.

 

 

**Chapter one:　Above**

* * * * *

  The sun rose slow warm, welcomed by the glass buildings reflecting its glow. The many towers that stretched to the sky looked like a geode growing from the lake beyond. Each reflecting vibrant lights that gave the sky intruders the look as if it was made of crystals.Ever constant trains thundered through this gleaming city, like a pulse, sending the early risers to work, and late workers home. A river, cutting through the wall of towers, caused the buildings to shift, it was not a grid but a metal forest bending to the will of the water passing through. The river still had a remanence tinge of green from being dyed the week prior, as was the city's most favored Saint Patrick's day tradition. Well, besides loud celebrations and copious amounts of drinking. This March had been a cold one. Not cold enough to keep those die hards from celebrating, but enough that this first truly warm day would be welcomed by those who would greet it.

  Despite this beautiful start to a day, most people out and about this early didn’t have time to admire the sun rising gracefully from Lake Michigan. They needed to get to work before the streets, busses and trains were jam packed with out of towners and teenagers, clogging up walkways with gawking and pictures. This was a downside of living in such a booming city. Yes there was much to do, but no real time to do it, and many people from other places with the time to travel and do these things rubbing it in the faces of locals. Not that anyone really cared.

  The people that lived here had grown to have ‘blinders’ to the world around them.  Just like the horses pulling people in themed charrages around town, they kept their eyes strength and focused on where they were going, and nothing else. Things out of the ordinary were a point of gossip but nothing more, and in such a large city it was hard to be surprised in a good way. Better to keep the blinders up, better to keep to your business.

  This is a shame, because when you wear blinders, when you assume all is in ordinary, you miss the extraordinary.

  For example, on this warm Chicago morning, a strange creature scurrying around at the closed Belmont Harbor Dog Beach near Lakeshore drive. One that was distinctly, not a dog. Was not any recognisable animal at all.

   

   If they had looked, they would have seen it was about the size of a medium sized dog. Bluish gray with quill like protuberances instead of fur. Two white horns sticking out of its head, followed the curve of the surrounding quills, though the left horn appeared to be shorter than the other. The thing that would had really raised alarm, if people had bothered to look, would have been the creatures bright red eyes that scanned its surroundings. The unmistakable look of seeming to be lost, mixed with something that could be described as ‘going bump in the night’.

  They would also, if they payed attention, see a boy with tan skin and chocolate brown hair that was speeding by in the wind. Pedaling, with little effort, an old pastel blue bike. They would have stared in awe as he somehow managed to match the speed of the surrounding traffic. The heavy fabric of his army jacket, flapped and danced behind him, making a noise of a frantic and rather large bird.

  This boy had blinders of his own at the moment, fixed completely on the small creature that was now making its way further down to the shore line.  He was counting on the people in their cars to not look, counting on them to be as belligerent as usual. Because if they noticed him, he would be in big trouble.

  As the boy approached, he road straight at the concrete barrier, building speed rather than slowing down. Just before impact he jumped off his bike. He arched in the air, slow, high, and controlled in an unnatural way while his bike tumbled over the barricade and fell into the sand just beyond. When the boy finally landed from his unnatural decent, he was nearly twenty feet from his bike. As he landed he immediately started walking towards the odd scuttling creature, wasting no time on his mission.

  “ Heeeere Kitty… I need to take you home now…” The creature scuttled further away, the boy stepped forward again.  He felt rather stupid calling to his sisters hodag, especially with a name as dumb as ‘Kitty’, but there wasn’t much he could do about it.

  “Come on…. You dumb hodag. There isn’t a farm for miles, we need to get you h-”  The boy paused, both in his pace and his speech. From a distance, the water had retained its usual look of indigo waves tipped white with the light reflected from the sky. As he had drawn closer however, he was able to see through the true murky green beneath the surface of the water, and had noticed a figure lurking beneath.

  “ Kitty.” The boy spoke in a careful yet urgent tone.  “ Come back over here. Quick. Come on. Come here now and I promise two big pieces of mooncalf when we get back. I'll even give you an eye, I know they’re your fave… Kitty?”  The boy felt a frustration spike within him, regretting all the times he had been mean to Kitty as it had seemed to make the creature not trust him, while also wanting to let the dumb thing be taken. But that wouldn’t do. He may hate the beast but he loved his sister, and she would mourn the loss.

  The boy reached over to his satchel pulling out something that looked like a tweed cloth sac, no bigger than his palm, yet when he shook it to let air fill the bag, it expanded to the length of his body. The beast scurried further away from him in the sudden explosion of size of the object.

  He didn’t have time for this, not with a mermaid about to snatch his sisters favorite, and most stupid pet.

  The boy pounced on the creator, catching it successfully just as a slimy grayish green hand had reached above the surface.  The boy, in his position of trying to rangle the squealing creature further into the sac, didn’t notice the hand reaching for him. He was too busy letting out a string of curses as the prickles on the creatures backdug at his chest. Yet he did manage to stand, pulling the handles of the sac up so Kitten could fall to the bottom with a harsh thump.

  It was then that he felt a tug at the pants of his leg and the creature pulled. The boy stumbled and cursed again. He managed to stay standing, closing the sack which instantly shrunk back to its original small size. The creature inside was now smaller too the boy could feel it still rolling and tumbling around in his fist; searching for an exit.  The boy tried to shake his leg free when a face appeared from the water too, long dripping hair plastered to the narrow face filled with sharp features. Large pale golden eyes glared at him, the mouth open, exposing sharp teeth, as it let out a cry in frustration at the loss of its meal.

  The boy quickly realised, as the claws from the mer-creature dug deeper, it wasn’t letting go without a fight. And It would apparently be his leg for his sisters hodag.

  He instead, removed from his pocket, with his free hand, a long wooden stick which he pointed at the creature. Matching a glare that he saw reflected in pale gold.

  The grip released instantly, and the boy huffed, turning back around to head towards his bike as he heard out another cry in frustration fade, the water creature diving ever deeper back into the lake.

  The boy assessed the damage. A warn white shirt had suffered from his scuffle with Kitty who he suddenly had the urge to squish. He wasn’t bleeding, but small noticeable holes were now showing his tan skin beneath. He would have to fix it before his mother saw. For now, he zipped up his army jacket.

  His leg though, that was bleeding. He looked back towards the lake, beyond its beauty, to glare at it one more time.

   

  “ Sir.”

  Lance spun round, shoving the still squirming bag and the stick into his pocket. A tall, serious looking man with grayed dark hair was watching him carefully. He was dressed in a dark blue cloak that looked out of place with the skyline backdrop, on his left breast was a gold ornate patch featuring a blue bird whose body faded into the American flag. MACUSA no doubt.

  “ Mornin’ sir” Lance responded back, trying to appear cheerful and not at all guilty.

  The man flashed a badge which showed a matching symbol and what he assumed was his ID card, but the boy was too far away to read the name. The man saved him the trouble.

  “ Jake Morner, Congressional Officer of Chicago. Would you like to explain why you had your wand drawn in a ‘red zone’?”

  “ I was just out for a morning stroll on this first warm day in so long, when that mermaid grabbed my leg.”  Well, that was only partly true. But his sister had only just registered her hodag and an escape like this and that registration would be revoked and MACUSA would take him away. Good riddens in the boys opinion, but he knew it would break his sisters heart so… here he was.

  “ A mermaid?” Of course he didn’t see. How convenient for the MAC.

  “ Well… mer-person sir, I’m not one to judge. But it definitely looked human and came out of the water so….” The boy stopped speaking as Officer Morner held up his hand.

  “ Papers.”

  “ Right.” The boy said, reaching in his satchel for them, handing them over without a word.

  You know, if MACUSA were really so worried about exposing secrets, maybe they should wear more muggle stuff. At least Lance fit in here, this Morner dude looked like he was on his way to some convention or gathering like the muggles do. Long cloaks could only pass in the city under heavy snowfall in the winter and the communal understanding that some people were just ‘weird’ like that. Rightnow, the boy wouldn’t be surprised if this drew the attention of the daily commuters.

  His papers checked out, of course they did. The boy was born here, and of age. Now if they checked his parents that would be a different story. Both immigrants, getting a visa with the Nomaj government rather than the ‘proper authorities’ But the boy checked out. Most would, and often do, laugh at his education. But he is educated, and of age.

  The man handed back the papers. Seeming almost disgruntled by there authenticity.

  “ Lance Mcclain. Odd name, Mcclain. What’s your blood status.”

  Lance glared at the man.

  “ Since when does blood status matter.”

  “ It always matters.”

  “ Well I would hope you would see that I was homeschooled,” Lance gestured to the papers where he knew his schooling had been included. “ so, I would assume, and this is just me and my wild assumptions, that it wasn’t the magic family dog teaching me.”

The mans frown was set, but it held more of an edge to it now.

  “ Says here you don’t have a job.”

  “ Got my interview today.” He pointed to the papers where a slip of paper had been sealed against a box, with the days date written on it.

  “ And I’m supposed to believe your story about this mer-person, are you even aware that the mer-people of Lake Michigan are no-”

  “ ‘ Not to stray within a five mile radius of red zones ’? Yeah. I know. But still…” Lance flashed his leg which was bleeding a little from when the Mermaid had grabbed him. “ I was about to head over to Beast Control myself until you showed up. I hope you can pass on the message that mer-people are getting so close to our shorelines.”

  The man expected Lances leg with a short glance, but the fresh blood seemed to be enough to convince him.

  “ And as for my name, we don’t live in Europe. Some of us had to change our family names to survive here. ” Lance fixed the old judging eyes with his most powerful glare forcing distaine into it, unblinking.

  “ Very well.” Morner concluded.  “I will carry on your story Mr. Mcclain. If we find you’re story has holes, we will be making a house call.”

  Not wanting to aggravate the Mac’ law enforcement anymore, Lance nodded in silence. The man nodded and with a crack… vanished.

  Asshole.

  Whatever had bent Congresses metaphorical wand had sure made things more annoying lately. To be fair they always were this bad though, if not not worse. Lance slumped back to his abandoned bike, wincing as he put weight on the injured leg. He hoped they had dittiny at home.

  To the untrained eye, his bike was sitting in the crater of sand where Lance had hastened discarded it. But to the trained, it was hovering just above were it had hit, as if it had bounced just bearly and froze there. Lance had charmed it with a light hover charm as well as ‘wind wings’ invisible wings that helped guide the wind to move you in your desired direction. Great for swift travel in the city when no one was around. Bad if a Nomaj spotted him. It was a good thing that dumb Mac’ hadn’t turned around or Lance would have been busted for the illegal charm.

  He stood the bike up and tossed his bag into the basket. He would have to go a normal speed, now that he wasn’t trying to find an escaped magical creature, which to Lance seemed perfect.

  This was Lance’s first time out of his home on his own.

  The first time that was supposed to happen today anyway, but much later, when his cousin had arranged an interview to be trained as an Auror. It was funny to think Kitty would choose this day to run off. Still, he would be in trouble for leaving without ‘proper reason’. Once he had a job he could go into ‘red zone’ Nomaj territory as he pleased. He would be free, truly free for the first time in his life.

  Becoming a Mac’ would be worth it to get a good job as an Auror, really the only Congressional job that appealed to Lance. There was quite the demand for Aurors these days, tons of adventure and they played well. He guessed he had Harry Potter to thank for that. Last year he had come back from some tournament with the body of a dead student. He had claimed that You Know Who had killed him. Sure the Brits’ made it seem like it was nothing to worry about, tons of articles about how mental he and Dumbledore are in their papers. MACUSA was no different. Tons of articles about how safe we were, that even with no sign of the You Know Who, he had never showed interest in America. So, American witches and wizards were safe.

  But Lance every wizard family with some good coin in there pocket ‘donated to MACUSA and got a family Auror as a bodyguard. Which meant demand was high for seemingly not much work.  Lance knew his mother wouldn’t like it. But with the pay and freedom, Lance promptly ignored his mother's concerns.

  Lance enjoyed his slow ride along the lakeshore, admiring the light gleaming of the surface. It was a freedom he had never known, to be alone on his own, going where ever he wanted. To be fair, he had only a small window of time before his mother would wake up and realise he was gone, sounding the alarms. But it was hard not to take in the beauty, the glory.

  Checking his pocket watch, he wished he could look around some more. But had a decent half hour ride back home.  A quick scan of the area around him and he realised he was on an abandoned street. He bounced the front tire and it caused him to bounce into the air, far higher than a normal bike was capable, until he had landed on a bike path that stretched and cut through the city. Repurposed from an old train line, those clever Nomaj, it was a good straightshot home. It also offered him a good vantage point of the sky. If his mom found out he was missing, he would at least see her coming.

  Lance peddled hard, sorely tempted to again call on the aid of the magic infused to his bike, but the sun was now peeking and the bike path was filling with early morning joggers. Soon the thin road was so quite busy, not packed, but enough that Lance had to keep slowing down. He peeled off the path down an off ramp and headed towards a few alleys he knew would get him home faster.

  Today might have been his first day out on his own, but he had been out with his family many times. His family had to know how to be sneaky in these dense Nomaj areas. A few quick turns and he was safe.

  Then he stopped.

  Across the street was a gang of young adults in matching hoodies, all with the same patch on one side. Lance didn’t have a good vantage of the patch here, but he knew the mark well, a skull with a long bone in its teeth. Lance pulled up his hood to hide his face while he kept his gaze forward. He was trying to show that he wasn’t bothered by them, that he didn’t know who they were, and what they did. As he past them, he felt eyes roam over him, diving under the safety of his hood to his face. But none seemed interested, and they let Lance pass without a second glance.

  Damn Skulkers were everywhere these days, and so close to home. What would his mom say when she found out. Lance would never leave home.

  He entered into Humboldt park, a large area of patchwork public whatevers. From baseball fields and event houses, to simple gardens and small groupings of woods. It was an a spring of life living within the heart of the old concrete neighborhood. Parks were frequent in the city but the size of this one made it ideal. Upon approaching a small plain looking area of grass with a few large trees, he climbed off his bike and walked right at the base of the biggest tree.

  Looking around for anyone watching him, he quickly pushed his bike into the base trunk of the large tree. It met nothing solid and instead he watched the framilure site of his pastel blue bike disappearing quickly, inch by inch, into a spot near the roots. It was as if the tree was absorbing it.

  Soon it started to almost fall in, without Lance pushing, and he let go of the handle quickly to watch it vanish completely. With one last check around him that no one was looking he turned around and leaned against the bark. But there was no scratchy feeling against his back, only a warm tingle spreading over him, incasing him, pulling him in. Soon, he was flipping, he closed his eyes to keep from growing dizzy. This was always the worst part. There was a moment where he had been falling and then he landed, his bike hovering bearly off the ground next to him.

  He opened his eyes and was welcomed to the sight of Beneath.

* * * * *

  Beneath, as it was so boringly named, was exactly what it ment. It was an entire city, backflip sitting under Chicago itself. A bustling population hidden under a giant city. Most of it mirrored to an extent by its counterpart above, the exceptions being where muggles had dug deeper to build basement levels in there own buildings. What might have once been a flat ground mirror image was riddled with jutting out cube shape protrusions that Wizards had done their best to use to their advantage, most building raised houses on top of.

  The underside of Humboldt park was nice in that very few of these intrusions existed, leaving a florshing neighborhood of brightly colored houses in all shapes and sizes. The sky, was really just a ceiling created years ago during the early settlement, which reflected the true sky above. Trees and plants had been charmed where ever there was free space to the point where it look like clustered stacked farm land. They had limited space, so everything had to be used wisely.

  It was for the expanding population of wizards. With the strict rules on relations with Nomaj, all it took was a generation or two and the small number of wizards in the city grew to a point were MACUSA was more than concerned about concealing all of wizard kind. So for larger areas with less space and larger populations, Beneath sprang up. Or well, sprang down.

  Lance climbed back onto his bike cruising down the street. He could relax now that he was back underground. He was still 21 and able to go about Beneath as he pleased. It was Above that was the main issue.

  “ Yo McNugget.” Lance turned to see a girl with wild looking, short, strawberry blond hair who was sitting on her front porch. She had large round glasses that Lance new for a fact were fake, something about a keepsake, though it made Lance think of butterflies whose wings are painted with big eyes to scare predators. Which would come in handy considering she was so short, even for her age. Pidge, another witch a few years younger than him. “ What are you getting me for my birthday?” She called out to him.

  Lance peddled over smiling.

  “ What? You’re having a birthday?” Lance put on his best look of surprise. Pidge had a birthday in two weeks.

  “ You ass. If I was seventeen I would stun you right here and now.” She crossed her arms but her face lacked any conviction to the threat.

  “ Ahhh and yet, by the time you will be, you’ll be far away!” Lance miked a bird flying off into the fake sky.

  “ I came home to celebrate it early, the least you could do is save Hawkeye the trip and give me my dang gift.”

  “ Maybe Hawkeye likes traveling.”

  “ Maybe you don’t have a gift.” Pidge accused.

  Lance did his best to look terribly offended, but Pidge just laughed. She was usually more presetnant when it came to Lance and his gifts. He was good at picking out things people would love. But, she seemed to be in a good enough mood to let it slide.

  “ How was your long weekend home.” Lance asked. He hadn’t really gotten to see Pidge much on her short homestay, which he regretted, but his mother had him doing triple chores. Maybe thinking Lance would be dead tired due to over work and not able to go to his meeting.

  “ Not long enough. Mom was happy to have me home to celebrate me turning seventeen. I think she’s sad I’ll be at school on the real day.”

  “ Did you get a watch?”

  Pidge nodded and pulled a gleaming silver pocket watch from her sweatshirt pocket. Girls usually got wrist watches. But that wasn’t Pidges style.

  “ Wish my mom got me a ‘framilure’ too.” Pidge laughed. Lance chuckled.

  “ Should have had half your family come from Cuba then. It’s kinda like how you get to celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas. Besides, I don’t think he’s really my framilure those are rare, and usually reflect the person.”

  “ I think he reflects you perfectly.” Pidge giggled. Lance scowled at her.

  “ What are you doing out so early?” Lance asked, changing the subject. Pidge never woke up before sunrise, and even less often before noon unless she had classes.

  “ Wanted to see your sorry face when you got back from the Above. Matt said he saw you peddling off. Which which is odd considering you’re going Above with Matt and me when I go to head back to school.” Pidge had a look and tone that spelled trouble.

  Lance pushed away from the gate. He could hear Pidge following after him.

  “ What were you doing Above?”

  “ Who says that’s where I went? Maybe I was off with wooing my next beautiful girl, or coming home after a fun night.” He winked.

  “ Because I checked your usual dips. And you just rode in from the entrance. And your leg is bleeding.” Damn. “ I won’t tell, quit worrying.” Pidge nudged him in the side with one of her boney elbows. She was surprisingly powerful, and it hurt. “ Just tell me, why?”

  Lance stopped walking, extracting the small squirming pouch from his bag. He tossed it to Pidge.  Pidge opened it and smiled in.  

  “ Hi kitten,” She greeted, earning an odd low squeal from Kitten. Pidges cleverness meant she usually understood things when given enough information. “ What a good brother you are.”

  Lance puffed out his chest slightly more than usual, standing up straight. Damn right he was. That reminded him though.

  “ You got any dittiny?”

  “ What… on me? No.” Pidge looked down at the leg. “ I can wrap it though.”

  “ Naw, I’ll do it. I just need to avoid Mom seeing it. Hold my bike.”

  She did, and Lance pulled out his wand again while crouching down. He pulled up the tattered pant leg revealing the claw marks.

  “ What the heck did you do?” Pidge asked, now fully inspecting the wound.

  “ A mermaid tried to snatch Kitty.”

  He pointed his wand at his leg a quick water spell to wash off the dried blood, a second spell sending hot air, drying the damp skin and socks.  Finally bandages shot out from the tip and wrapped around his leg. He let the pants fall back and began tapping his wand over each hole repairing them. Watching carefully as the tiny threads connected perfectly, leaving no trace of damage. He did the same to his shirt. Satisfied, he took his bike back and the two kept walking.

  Pidge was quiet, deep in thought.

  “ Yes, I’m sure it was a mermaid.”  Lance said suddenly in an annoyed tone.

  Pidge jumped slightly and looked  at him.

  “ I don’t deny that it was. It's just odd. There is no reason for them to be so close to the shore line. Most of the best fish are way further out. The area around the city hardly even has any fish at all.

  Lance shrugged.

  “ I didn’t really have a chance to ask it.” Lance only knew a few loose words in mermish anyway. ‘ Lost, help, fish, and butt. His oldest brother Alphonse had taught them to him when he had his odder phases where he wanted to date a mermaid.

  “ You gonna come over and eat breakfast with us?” Lance asked, yawning and squinting into the fake sun as it had just breached over a building in the distance.

  “ Tempting, but I think I’m going back to bed. I’ll see you later.” Pidge waved, leaving Lance with a quick high five.

  Was he sad that Pidge and his other friends got to go to school while he was stuck being homeschooled, yeah. But they were cool enough to keep him in the loop. Pidge was too smart to be left to her own devices anyway. She was much better off use challenging the minds of old to battles of wits and logic.  Speaking of, Lance should probably wrap and send off his gift. It was too good not to see her just after getting it. She would be bouncing off the walls.

  The large brick house where his family lived seemed so quite without the dozens of children playing in the front yard, or the older men sitting on the porch watching over. But Lance did see the chickens had been put out.

  He walked his bike over to a shed were they kept spare broomsticks and a bag of feed for the chickens, he took out the feed, leaving the bike behind.

  “ Come here my midget gooses.” He spoke fondly to them, cooing and mimicking them like a tall lanky mother hen. He had an odd nack with them, and when it came to chores around the house the chickens were his to look after. Which was fine by him because they were pretty low maintenance. He started scattering the feed and the chickens swarmed at his feet. They made it hard to move around but Lance was trained well into not stepping on them.

  “ Lance! Is that you?” His mother, Rosa’s voice called out. Not long after she appeared in the door with several bowls and cutting boards orbiting her like planets as they continued their work. Lance hummed in delight, spreading another handful of feed. She was a curvy woman, Lance had long outgrown her in height, but she had a sweet face that could look both endlessly kind and terrifying depending on where you stood with her. Lance had notice that over the past year a few new gray hairs seeming to have sprouted from her curly dark brown hair. Gray hair would suit her, Lance thought. Everything seemed too. From the old pointed work boots to the stain covered apron covering an old floral pattern dress. It must have been her confidence.

  “ Morning mom.”

  “ Where have you been mijo? I went to wake you up but you were gone.” She seemed less worried or even scolding now that she had Lance in her sights, he had settled her fears by appearing unharmed and as if nothing had happened.

  “ Pidge, I wanted to drop off her gift so she could pack it.”

  “ You didn’t send Halky?”

  “ He’s hunting.” Well, now he would have to send Hawkeye to Pidge with the gift.

  His mother trusted this statement, not looking at him to recognise desete but instead inspecting the chickens. A rather fat one seemed to be pecking at the others to get more feed for themselves. His mother bent down and picked up the chicken that made a feeble attempt to break free of the hold.

  “ How about fried chicken tonight, mijo?” The chicken stopped moving instantly and Rosa moved to set it down elsewhere in the garden. The chickens, no matter how fat they got, were for eggs only. They could buy meat from the market. But the chickens didn’t have to know that.

  “ I was thinking,” His mother started, helping Lance set the feed back in the shed. “ You have got your big interview today and we should have a dinner to celebrate.”

  “ But I haven’t even done the interview yet. I could get rejected.” It also wasn’t really a job, but training. This was her way of supporting him. She was still proud and believed he would get the position, that’s what terrified her. His mother huffed, swateing the idea away as if it were an annoying fly.

  “ Think of what you want to eat so I can send Aleja out to get the ingredients. And no snacking around town. You have to remember to come straight home after your interview. Now let's go eat breakfast.”

  “ I think I’m gonna pass on breakfast. I didn’t sleep well last night. Nerves.” This was true. But he was also tired due to his morning adventure. Usually his mother put up a fuss about Lance skipping meals, it was important family time. If he wanted to hang out with his friends then they were welcome to come over too, his mother always said. But she looked at him now with a knowing soft look, touching his cheek and looking into his eyes. She looked worried. She always looked worried these days.

  “ Rest up mijo. I’ll have Sofia bring up some toast.”

  Lance didn’t hate his family, quite the opposite, he had never felt so warm and safe within the walls of his old family home, surrounded by siblings and cousins and his mom. He loved his mom, a fearse Witch who was not afraid to wip you about with her sandal with her bare hands. No, he loved his family. But his mother was beyond overprotective, a new side he had really yet to see up until this past year. _“ You see mijo, I told you he was not dead. Ese horrible diablo. He only has eyes for power. We have to stay safe. No estamos protegidos por el mar.”_

  It was fair, Lance had never thought that You Know Who would ever return. You Know Who rained terror and gained supporters from all over the world. During the height of his power, there was a civil war erupting under the great cities of America. It nearly broke the country. Lance was put off by the blatant disconcert the british were showing. Weather or not the Potter kid and Dumbledore were in the right mind or telling the truth, they should still be taken, at least, somewhat seriously.

  He knew being and Auror was dangerous. That it worried his mother. But if You Know Who is back then now was the best time to study how to fight. Being homeschooled had had its disadvantages and most dueling spells and curses he had never gotten to learn. He had tried to study the theory, but books could only get you so far. If he had any doubt about his interview it would be his lack of ‘proper’ schooling.

  Lance excused himself, giving his mother a quick kiss before heading upstairs. Before he reached his own room, he stopped by his sisters to drop off the small bag containing kitten. She had looked worried at breakfast, but hadn’t asked Lance about the creature for the fear of their mother finding out. So instead he slipped the bag under the door knowing she would find it later.

  His own room blue. Very blue. In many shades. It was like jumping into the water without getting wet. The walls were full of posters and photos from over the years. And several bookcases were filled with to the brim. He had to do a lot of studying on his own for his Auror exams and he was more than ready. On one of the shelves near his bed, that was full of other strange Nomaj nicknacks, he saw Hawkeye asleep in his cage.

  He moved over to a redwood desk that was coated with papers, and a box that sat on top of a large teetering stack. Lance snatched it up the box smiling. It was a Nomaj voice recorder. Pidge, Lance and another friend of theirs had seen it in this odd Christmas Nomaj movie a while ago when Matt took them Above as a treat. The film was about this odd boy who was hated by his family and left behind. Which was odd because he seemed really smart as he used all these non magic ways to keep these two other stupid Nomaj from robbing it. He had this odd voice recorder though in the movie that Pidge had wanted and it cost him a decent chunk of his allowance, but he managed to save up, exchange the money and buy it. He had done so almost 5 months ago. He had been excited to send it to Pidge ever since.

  He found some clean paper and placed the box down on top before tapping it and watching the paper fold over the box, wrapping it tightly. He then tied some twine around it and headed over to Hawkeyes cage. He tapped on a bar whistling.

  “ Hawkeye. Wakey wakey. Time to fly, buddy.”

  Hawkeye, ruffled slightly and then opened his large eyes. They were a bit…. Off. They didn’t sit straight on his face, and the pupils each seemed to be pointed out a bit too far in the wrong direction. But that wasn’t the oddest thing about Hawkeye. When Lance had first gotten him four years ago, he was a small thing, with a tongue that was too big for his beek. It would get caught hanging out often enough giving his owl the delightfully pleasant look of having just been stupefied. But despite Lances early amostity, Hawkeye was loyal. He had named Hawkeye such because despite the wonky eyes, he was a very good flyer.

  Lance let Hawkeye out and the bird instantly flew to his shoulder, his wings hitting Lances head repeatedly on landing, roughing up his hair.

  “ Right…” Lance said disgruntled. “ Hold out your leg.”

  Hawkeye did, and Lance quickly secured the gift before sending him off through the window.  He watched Hawkeye fly away for a moment before falling back onto his bed, tired from not nearly enough sleep. It had been hard to fall asleep last night due to his excitement for today, and being shaken awake by his crying sister at four in the morning wasn’t the best wake up call.

  Surely he could sleep, just a little more, before leaving.

 

* * * * *

   

  He awoke to someone shaking his shoulder and calling out his name, he could feel his left arm was asleep as he had rolled over onto it during his nap. He also could feel a trail of dried drool running down to his chin. He startled awake, turning to his clock on the wall first before he gestured someone grabbing him tight around the stomach.

    “ You found him!” Sofia squealed in delight. Down the hall Lance could hear the familiar scuttling of Kitten. He looked down at Sofia who was beaming. “ You really found him!”

    “ Yeup! Sure did.” He smiled, patting her on her head. Her hair was long dark and curly like their mothers, but tied back into two tight braids that bounced as she moved her head. She released her brother only to scramble onto the bed to sit with him while Lance cleaned the drool of his chin and looked at the clock again. The first time he had looked but hadn’t really read the time. 9:37. So he had only been asleep for about two hours. Lance had been worried for a moment that he had slept in, but the interview wasn’t till noon.

He looked over at a small plate of buttered cinnamon toast that Sofia must have brought up. He grabbed a peace and started eating. He turned back to his sister who was beaming at him, with something beyond the thankful return of her pet.

    “ What was it like?” She spoke in an excited whisper.

    “ What was what like?” He said through a mouthful of toast, some cramps spitting out. Usually this would upset Sofia, but she didn’t say anything about it.

    “ Going Above, silly.”

    “ We’ve both been plenty of times.” Lance cleaned his fingers of crumbs and ate the next piece. Man, he was hungry.

    “ Not alone!” She stood on the bed and bounced slightly in her excitement. The braids bounced with her. “ I can’t wait till I can go out on my own! I wanna visit the Sears tower!”

    The Sears tower was a ‘Black zone’ absolutely no wizards allowed. It was a way to keep dark wizards from trying a mass Nomaj attack. Many Nomaj metal detectors have had sneeker scopes added, along with magical law enforcement placed undercover to react promptly when one sets off.

    “ You can wait another 11 years I think.”

    She stopped bouncing.

    “ Don’t say it like that! That sounds like forever!”

    She fell back onto the bed dramatically moaning her distance for the idea that it would be another decade past before she could leave on her own.

    “ It’s not like you can visit the Sears Tower anyway. Its Black. You know that.”

    “ I don't have to go up. I just wanna see it. More than just in pictures.”

    Sofia was gifted with the same curse that Lance and Pidge had, being fascinated with what Nomaj were able to build despite the lack of magic. Pidge loved taking it apart, improving it. Lance just liked to fiddle with them. One of his favorites, an oddly colored cube made of smaller cubes stuck together and designated with colors, could move and turn in some ways. He had managed to arrange it so both the blue and red sides were finished. He found himself looking at it.  He had stolen it from a store when he was younger and had nearly gotten in trouble with the Nomaj authority.

    “ It’s dangerous out there.” Lance added.

    “ Is not. You’re just saying what Mom always says to keep me home.”

    “ I’m really not. I nearly got my leg taken by a mermaid this morning.”

    Sofia gasped, rolling over to look at him.

    “ Really?”

    Lance showed his leg with the bandage, some of it was bleeding through. He should probably put some dittiny on it. He might even have some in here.

    He moved over to his desk drawer and rummaged around, finally managing to pull out a tiny brown bottle. He handed it to Sofia to hold while he undid the bandages on his leg. When he took the bottle back he noticed Sofia staring at his leg frowning.

    “ What?”

    “ You got hurt. I didn’t think-”

    “ It’s not your fault. If anything its Kittens, don’t give him any treats tonight. I’ll be fine. This was a weird outlier. I ‘ve never even heard of mermaids getting that close to shore.”

    Which was odd. Lance kept thinking about Pidges face deep in thought. Why was that mermaid so close. Sure they sometimes made there ways into Red zones chasing fish, but never that close to shore. She had even been desperate enough to attack. He had never even heard of that happening.

    Well, that was something for MACUSA to deal with. Lance had a leg to heal. He placed a drop each on some of the smaller holes, it stinged slightly and he watched as the skin slowly sucked in to the center of each hole, sealing it.  He stood, placing the bandages into a large pestle mortar on his bedside table and lit the bandages aflame with the tip of his wand. It didn’t smell great, but that took care of the evidence.

    “ Want me to bring you back anything, while I’m out?” Lance asked setting the now clean plate back down on the bedside table.

    “ You’re supposed to head home. Mom said.”  Sofia still seemed worried about him.

    “ I can swing by a shop and grab some candy or something.”

    She considered this. Yes, Lances safety was important to her, but muggle candy was a rare treat.

    “ And then right back home?”

    “ Yeup. Right back home. You won't even miss me.”

    “ Then… bring me that fizzy stuff!”

    “ Pop rocks?”

She nodded and the braids whipped up and down as she did. He leaned forward and placed a small kiss onto Sofias head.

    “ Alright. One order of pop rocks. Now go run off and kick Kitten for me, I gotta shower.”

 

_* * * * *_

 

  At 10:50 he strode out in his a pressed shirt and his best pants. There wasn’t a whole lot of fanfare as he left, most of his family was eather off at work or doing their chores for the day. Lance stepped through the chickens, trying to keep his pants clean, to get to his bike. His mother had been the only one besides Sofia that waved him off. The two fussed over him, making sure he looked perfect. Which was silly because he was about to climb on his bike and ride over there, he would no doubt get a little ruffled. It was more for the presentation of fitting in with muggles, wizards were usually odd looking. All Lance cared about was his interview. Is mother smoothed out his hair one last time before kissing him on the check and letting him ride off towards Pidges house.

 

 

  When he arrived again at the small house Lance noticed she wasn’t waiting outside like before. So, he parked his bike and made his way through the gate. He got halfway to the door when it burst open and Pidge came scrambling out with Hawkeye frantically trying to hold a perch on her shoulder.

  “ YOU ARE THE BEST!!!” She exclaimed, jumping into the air to hug Lance. He caught her and did his best sibling spinning hug. Hugs from Pidge were rare enough, and even greater when she was giving them rather than a begrudging acceptance of a hug that she was known for. “ HOw? Did you even?”

  “ Found this weird electronic shop a while back, had to check it out. I can take you when you get back later.”

  Pidge had a hungry look in her eye, one that showed a desire to go to this shop. But thankfully Matt stepped out, Pidges backpack slung over his shoulder. Matt and Pidge looked a lot a like. Pidge almost looked like a boy most of the time, Lance figured this had been on purpose. Pidge never mentioned why though. But even if Pidge were to grow out her hair the resemblance would still be remarking, same strawberry blond hair, same bright amber eyes. Same ridiculous nerdy tendencies. Matt was older though, and had an air of maturity that, like his hight, Lance was still not used to.

  “ Come on Pidge, we gotta get moving. You got a train to catch and Lance has a job to get.” Pidge did let go and went to retrieve her backpack from Matt before going to grab her bike.

  They reached the surface around 11:10, and quickly the three made there way towards downtown. It wasn’t an easy ride. They had to ride slow and duck around traffic. Most Nomaj hated bikes because Cars were better. But witches and wizards were not allowed to own cars.

 

  It would have been easier to apparate, but you needed a special license to apparate in Chicago. Lances and Pidges would only work in Beneath. It was also, not Lances most fond way of travel. He wouldn't say he was claustrophobic but the sensations of appreciation always unsettled him to the point where he would rather stick to his bike. He would love to fly on a broom too, but despite his family being old broom designers, that was off the table above ground.

  As the pettled, Lance kept checking his watch. 11:42  He was going to be late at this rate.

  The original plan was that he would go with Pidge and Matt to the station and then head to the interview on his own. Having an extra pair of eyes always helped when moving through the city and it timed out alright. But they had planned to reach the station by 11:30 so he could wave them off safely as they waited for their 12 o’clock train and then Lancehead off to his interview. Then after his interview he would meet up with Matt go home. Not as exciting as he had hoped for as a kid, but this morning made up for that.  Now he wasn’t so sure he would be able to send off Pidge.

  Matt must have notice this too as he gave Lance a worried look. As the tree reached a stoplight in Greektown, he pulled alongside Lance.

  “ I think you better head off on your own. You know where to go, right?”

  Lance nodded. He turned to Pidge and waved as he headed on straight while the pair turned right heading for Central station.

  Now that Lance was on his own, he found himself ducking and diving through cars in gridlock traffic, scatting corners and running a red light or two. He ignored the shouts and cries after a few sharp turns where he nearly collided into some people on their way to work. Half his focus was trained on the watch on his wrist. The zone was far too dense to try anything to speed him along. He would half to rely on his navigation skills to find a quicker route.

  He started counting down city blocks till he would reach MACUSA headquarters.

  13…. 12…. 11…. 10….

  10:45

  He could make it.

  He saw the top of the Board of Trade Building in the distance and made a quick decision to take a shortcut through an ally when. He was nearly at the mouth on the other side when-

  WHAM!

    Something had knocked him back. He tumbled off his bike looking around for the source. He heard the roar of an engine and saw a red motorcycle leaving through the mouth of the Ally on the other side. He couldn’t see much of the rider due to a large container mounted to the back of the bike, but he could see they were wearing a bright red helmet, a roaring lion painted on the back.

    And they even turn around to check on him.

    What an absolute dickface.

    Lance could have been hurt! Thankfully, he wasn't it. But he could have been!

    Lance dusted himself off scowling at the stains that now marred where he had fallen down. His gaze followed the ground until he saw his bike. It was bent in half.

    “ No… No! NO!” He moved over towards it. There must have been a protection charm on it, placed by his mother no doubt, the bike taking the full strane of the force. But now it was completely un-ridable. And he couldn’t just leave it either.  He looked at his watch. 11:49. He would have to. He moved the bike over to a pile of trash and pulled out his wand, quickly tapping the  bike with it. From the spot where he had tapped, the bike seemed to shift and morph like a marash fading from site. Once it was hidden, he started running. All the way cursing that dude on the motorbike.


	2. The Vultures and the Lion

    Lance arrived at the Board of Trade building with no time to spare, clutching a stitch in his side. He as a good runner, but eight city blocks would wind anyone not used to it. He skirted past the grand entrance over to a side door where a homeless man was sleeping on the ground in front. Lane couldn’t see much of the man's face under scruffy matted hair and beard, his form was covered in tattered newspapers that acted better than any concealment charm. People went out of there way to avoid looking at him. Thankfully his cousin Alphons had showed him this visitor entrance so he didn’t have to arrange an escort in. Though an escort might have been a nice witness to why he was now running late.

    “ One visiter into MACUSA, for an interview.”

    The man turned slightly, he reeked of booze, cheap tobacco smoke, and piss. The illusion was almost too great to the point were Lance was worried he was now bothering a normal homeless Nomaj.

   Groaning, the man stood. Not bothering to properly remove the newspapers and instead letting them tumble off him onto the pavement. He turned towards the door and motioned for Lance to move forward to stand next to him. The man withdrew a wand from a shabby tattered coat and tapped the door. It swung open revealing a pitch black darkness that the daylight seemed unable to pierce. Lance found himself looking around at the surrounding Nomaj, wondering if anyone was watching. The smelly man pushed him forward.

    “ Get in ya idiot, before the nomaj catch wise.”

    Lance stepped inside. The man seemed to follow after.The door slammed shut behind them.

    Darkness. Pitch black. Lance looked around confused. It made sense for it to be pitch black from the outside, but he had expected a light to come on once the entrance was closed. Instead he found himself in a silent dark void with nothing but the sound of his ragged breathing and thumping heart beat. The man next to him seemed to have been erased from existence. When he had come with relatives it hadn’t looked like this. Then again they had worked here, and Lance only had to check his wand at some reception desk on those occasions. Maybe it was some kind of extra security for normal visitors.

    “ Present your wand.” The man next to him grumbled, startling Lance. He had nearly forgotten about him.

    Lance drew out his wand and stood with it waiting for something to happen.

    “ Do a spell.” The man gruffed impatiently.

    “ _Lumos.”_  

    The room lit instantly, but not by the light of his spell. Torches on the brick stone walls flared up and filled the room with a white gold light. It was suddenly too bright. Lance found himself shielding his eyes while putting out the light from his wand. Lance felt rather dumb having casted a light spell. It had made the most sense considering how they were in the dark but he now realised it had been a test of magic ability.  He felt silly for not doing something more impressive. His sister was wandless and even she could make light spark at her fingertips.

    Lance tried to repress the heat rising to his face, burning his ears, as he studied the room. It seemed to be an antichamber. Curved arching walls collected to an point, creating an oblong shaped room, almost like the tip of an egg. The torches on the wall were matched with a bright chandelier that hung from the highest point to the middle of the room. It was small. Three people with their arms out, touching fingers tip to tip, could mark the diameter. In front of them was a large ornate door made of embellished copper. Two decorative brands wands sat atop the door, each with a flag hanging off them. One, the country's stars and stripes, it shifted and faded through the many flags the country had had throughout its time. The other looked like the city flag of Chicago, though Lance noticed every so often one of the four red stars would shift their shape into the silhouette of a wand, or a goblin, or a egal. Lance saw how they danced in a non existent wind.

    Lance looked over to the man next to him.

    He seemed remarkably different, no longer wearing tattered rags but deep midnight blue robes trimmed with gold and red. He saw at the sleeves, silvers stars embroidered to twinkle and shine like the night sky. This was not a uniform feature that Lance had ever seen on an Mac officer, but suited the look all the same. He saw that the man's face was now clean shaving except for a twirled gray mustache that had two curls on each side. His hair was slicked back and a salt and pepper gray. Lance watched as he fixed his gloves and brushed away a few stray newspapers that still clung at his shoulder.

    He moved in front of Lance, his own wand raised as the doors opened slowly and the man walked through. Lance followed and was met with a sight he knew to be more framilure.

    High arching windows filled the room with golden sunlight, copper and iron beams were scattered throughout the arching ceiling, connecting the two side walls. Lance remembered if one looked up at a point in the room they would see the reflection of an eagle soaring through the rafters. The room shared the same brick as the anti chamber, but against the sunlight had a rosy orange tinge to it. Paper airplanes stood out boldly against the brick as they zoomed around the the ceiling, delivering messages within the department.

    There was a large iron gate that divided the room and reached halfway up to the ceiling. Lance thought of an old fashioned bank that might have the vault on display. Behind the bars witches and wizards, dressed in different shades of blue, scurried around like trained mice. All seemed absorbed in their work, reading something, or a conversation with a college, yet none of them collided with each other. Large staircases with moving stepps were leading up to the balconies that lines the walls. Lance new each level and side was a different department and the stars would take you up to your floor instantly without having to wait in an elevator. There were still, however, two bronze elevators on the far side underneath an odd room that stuck out like a pimple on the face of a Vila. Lance noticed as they walked, it wasn’t a room, but a clear spherical barrier that shimmered and shined, hiding whatever was beyond.

    More shandalears and banners hung within the hall and as Lance walked across the marble hall over to the check in desk he saw the floating banner of Karin Matoosa, current madam President. Next to that banner was a banner of Madam Mayor Allura Altea, head of the midwest branch of Magic within the states and currently the best candidate for future madam President. In Lances opinion. President Matoosa seemed to keep her cold green eyes focused beyond the walls, if trying to watch over her country from every banner and hanging. Allura Alteas image seemed to look down and smile warmly at Lance.

    “ Hurry up.” The man grumbled at Lance. “ You do realise you are in fact, late.”

    Lance nodded and hurried over to the counter, were there was a round faced kind looking woman who Lance had not seen in his previous visits. She held out her hand. Lance went to shake it. She giggled and the man next to him groaned.

    “ Your wand.” The man said with an increasing irritated tone.

    “ Oh, right.” Lance  handed it over and the woman inspected it.

    “ Oh! Roystonea regia... and mermaid tail fin. 11 ½ inches. Flexible. Good for charm work. I have yet to see a wood like this aside from textbooks, and mermaid tail fin is so rare.”

    “ It’s it was my great grandfathers, made in Cuba by-”

    “ We’re in a rush Shay.” The man groaned. “ You can shoot the breeze about wands later. Give him his ticket.”

    The woman, Shay, blushed and handed over a bit of green parchment that had the description of his wand and the number eight at the top. She waved them off and Lance wished he could have shown up on time, then he could have had a better chance to talk to her. They walked through turnstiles at the gate and the man led Lance past the first three staircases over to a middle one on the east side.  Lance knew that the aurors office were on west 7, but as they approached the moving stares he saw a small sign that read.

_East 4. Boardroom offices, interrogation room, courtrooms 4-11, and new employee offices._

    While Lance figured he would be in the last one he had an odd feeling he was headed to interrogation. Something about how the angry wizard seemed to drive him around the place. Lance knew he was late, but that was a common side effect of living in this wizarding world. Making sure that the statute of secrecy was kept safe was far more important than times and dates.

    Down the balconies edge Lance was led to a boardroom, where he entered behind the angry wizard to see a room full of twenty or so other witches and wizards. Lance was confused.

    They all looked to be about his age. Some older, some even younger. Lance saw a girl with long blond hair that was tied up into a long high ponytail. A few curled strands hung around her emerald eyes. She was gorgeous. Lance seemed to be free from the control of the Angry wizard, who had left to the front of the room where there was a large blackboard, and sat next to the girl.

    “ Hi, I’m Lance.”

    She smiled pleasantly.

    “ Really, I thought you might be late.”

    Lance laughed nervously. He looked around at the others sitting, some seemed rather nervous. The girl who had yet to give her name, and the taller boy who was playing with a stray quill seemed unswayed by the feeling in the room.

    “ Soo….. what’s your name?” Lance asked.

    The girl simply smiled at him and turned away.

    Not the best start to a day, but Lance would recover. He sat back in his chair to get a good look around the room, but as he did the lights dimmed. The chalkboard, which Lance now saw had a list of names on it, seemed to hover slightly. The chalk had looked normal in the light, but now it shined in the darkness. Lance saw his name on the list. A red check mark appeared next to the other white and yellow ones. His checkmark was the only red one. Had he really been the only late person.

    “ Good Afternoon everyone.” The angry wizard spoke in a hard tone. “ I am Elliot Kormack. An Auror with MACUSA. As you might expect, we have a high need for able bodied witches and wizards with the recent scare overseas. But we do not give in to rumor. The ministry of magic in England has informed us that it's nothing but rumor.  But as we all know, rumors are dangerous here.”

    Kormack, whose face was only barely visible in the dim light from the chalkboard, waved his wand and the board turned over. Some of the more recent news articles and headlines seemed to appear on the board, the chalk moving on its own at a pace that was too quick to follow.

    “ Several cases of old and new supporters, groups of vial that shift between us, have made themselves somewhat known over these past few months. Not all are viable threats but it's enough to cause MACUSA to recruit more Aurors. Our current training time has been halved, and we hope given the threat you will realise the need for some extra study on your own time.

    “That being said we do not have time to train people who are severely lacking in areas. The heads of department have looked into your schooling and recommendations and in many cases have already made up their minds, so today is your chance to prove you got what it takes.”

    Lance gulped. Schooling… recommendation… He was lacking in both those areas. If he had gone to school he could have had one of the teachers provide a good recommendation, witches and wizards that taught were considered the best in there respected arts and no higher price could often be found. Lance only had recommendations from his family, which didn’t look good. He had been sure to use relatives with different last names, but he wasn’t sure that would really help much. He had hoped there would be some form of test, but they seemed to be focusing on what was on paper alone.

    Lance wasn’t impressive at all on paper.

    Lance saw the board flip back over and he glared at the little red check mark next to his name. That would probably hurt him too. The lights brightened again in the room and Kormack waved his wand. The list of names shifted. It seemed to be a list now of what order they had arrived in. White checks, yellow and then red. Lance at the bottom.

    “ When I call your name,” Kormack started. “ Head to the room off to the right.” He gestured to the plain looking door.

    The girl next to him stood up.

    “ First, Nyrma-” Kormack paused as he saw that the girl had already risen. “ Okay, to the right.”

    The girl turned to Lance for a moment.

    “ See you… Later,” she said with a smile and left.

    Lance got the feeling that she was intending for that ‘later’ to have a double meaning. He wanted to grone and slam his head against the desk. He already felt as though he had ruined his chances at this…. This wasn’t even a job. How could they ask so much for training.

    Over twenty minutes passed before ‘Rolo Relgat’ was called back to the room. Then in the same fashion, the others followed. Every twenty minutes a name was called and someone left the room. Lance wished he could break the tension by talking to some of the others, but Kormack seemed to glare over at him, seeming to know that is exactly what he wanted to do, and how it would be a good way to get kicked out of the room. So Lance sat. He studied his pocket watch to count the minutes, the hours.

    He had not eaten lunch. He had hardly eaten breakfast. He had been under the impression that he would be the only one being interviewed today. Then he could head out and go buy some food. Maybe even swing by his friends place for some free grub. But now his stomach rumbled and he wondered if he would ever get out. For sure his Mom would freak out. Even if he did get out at a decent time, which seemed unlikely, his bike was still busted several blocks away.

    Right, he had forgotten about that. Was it still okay?

    He felt his nerves die down as hours past and sleep and hunger overwhelmed him. It seemed like there was stil six people left last he checked before he felt something prodding his cheek.

    “ Get up Mclain.”

    Lance groned, blinking up at Kormack who gave him a harsh shove to get up. Kormack didn’t explain anything beyond waking Lance up, but a quick glance around the room offered him the idea that it was his turn. He psyched himself up and headed to leave off the door to the right. The room entered into a room that seemed too big to make sence, and really too big then needed. A long wood table had seven wizards sitting at it. Most Lance didn’t recognise, but he knew about Iverson from stories and newspapers. They say an old You Know Who suporter took Iversons eye in one of the last fights. He was a true Auror. Lance felt himself straighten up as he saw Iverson looking over him. He also recognised Lauren Montgomery, an extraordinarily talented duling witch.

    He also saw a face he knew quite well, one that was beaming at him, Samuel Holt, Pidges father. He wasn’t an Auror per say, but an expert in nomaj as well as jinxes and curses. While he never worked in the field as an Auror, Pidge had explained that her father was still a vital part to tracking down dark wizards and rouge groups. Also, should Lance be approved for training, the one that would be helping train Lance the most. Lance was looking forward to that, Sam Holt was a good man.

    “ Lance Emanuel Mcclain, age 21” Iverson seemed to be reading from a folder. “ Schooling, none. Recommendations, from family members only. Also…” Iverson raised his one judgemental eye towards Lance without moving his head, then it fell back to the paper. He made a note. “ Sloppy and Late.”

    Lance looked down at his pants which were still streaked with mud, but it’s not like he could have fixed them at any point. He had handed over his wand, and it's not like he could do magic in redzone.

    Lance wanted to say this, but thought better of it. Holt was offering a kind smile.

    “ What makes you think you can be an Auror under these conditions.” Iverson asked.

    “ Uh… well. I may be homeschooled, but I've studied defencive magical theory on all curses and jinxes up to NEWT level. And-”

    “ Defencive theory is one thing, but we can’t exactly hold your hand while you work through the practical. Do you not have any practical training or experience?”

    Lance shook his head, and some of the other witches and wizards made notes with slight frowns on there face. Some looked out right board.

    “ If I may,” Holt started looking at the others. “ His scores in OWL’s and NEWT are quite outstanding given the circumstances. He meets those requirements well enough.”

    “ Yet I can’t shake,” Iverson continued. “ That if he truly wanted to be an Auror he would find a way to attend proper schooling. He might have also thought to arrive sooner to such an importan-”

    “ Please sir,” Lance spoke up and wished he didn’t. But his words had silenced those at the table who watched him now, so he might as well continue. “ While riding here I was hit… by a Nomaj. I had to find a way to move my bike to a safe location withou-”

    “ This sounds…” Iverson interrupted, “ A hell of a lot like an excuse. Son, we have been here today, longer than you have, we do not have time for your excuses. You were the latest out of 40 candidates in both the morning and afternoon sets.”

    Fourty! Lance felt another panic rise in him, as if he had been dropped from a fishbowl into an ocean.

    Another man was flipping through the pages.

    “ What’s this about an incident this morning down by the lake?”

    Damn, Lance had hoped that would not have gone through any kind of official work yet.

    “ I uh… was walking my dog when a merperson grabbed my leg at the shoreline.”

    Some of the others at the table looked interested. Iverson looked as though Lance had just pulled his pants down to reveal himself while throwing up rude gestures.

    “ You expect us to believe that, Merpeople don’t go anywhere near that close to the shore line.”

    “ I know, it's true though,” Lance lifted his leg. “ She uhh… it was trying to get my dog. It grabbed at me when I stopped it and it kinda lashed out. So I just pointed my wand to make them let go.”

    Sam Holt moved up from his chair and over to where Lance sat. He, with permission, lifted up the pant leg revealing what was the injured leg.

    “ I uh… had my mom treat it with destiny.”

    Iverson snorted. Should Lance have not lied and said that he treated it? He didn’t want to give off the idea he was hiding from his mother. No doubt they knew they still lived together, and detiny was hard to use on yourself unless you were as bendy as Lance.

    “ The lake shore is a long way for a dog walk, Mr. Mclain.” Iverson brought up.

    “ We both like a healthy morning breeze.”

    “ There is no report of a dog being there.”

    Lance gupled.

    “ He… I had put him…. Away.”

    “ Away?”

    “ He… ran away. From our home, out of Beneath. I went to bring him home. I put him in a bag of holding.”

    Many seemed satisfied by this but Iverson seemed to shut his folder on Lance with a distaste.

    “ Your lying, your tardiness, and poor dress, and lack of schooling, not to mention your behavior as reported on by Kormack in the waiting room.” Lance grimised. “ I am struggling as to why we should give you a chance to train here.”

    Lance felt his heart sink.

    “ Of course,” Montgomery spoke up, “ This does not mean you will not be able to reapply next year to our training, perhaps we won't be in such a situation to rush along the training process. That might be the ideal time for you to join up. In the meantime, perhaps you should attend a local dueling club, or find a way to practice your practical till it meets our current demands.”

    Lance felt his heart sink further down, till it was absent from his body. He felt cold and a harsh pain. He looked over at Sam Holt who had nothing for him but a look of pity and sadness. He had been one of those who had told him that his schooling wouldn’t matter. He couldn’t afford a ‘proper school’. And so sue him. His mom was a fantastic witch but she couldn't know everything. Lance felt a rage bubbling in place of his heart, burning. A whole year. A whole year stuck back underground. Trying to study trying to be good enough. Would he ever be though.

    Would it have made a difference if he had showed up first, in formal robes and not dirtied nomaj clothing. Arriving by flue powder that was far too expensive these days, not stepped on any toes. He wanted to storm out, to scream about how unfair it all was.

    But he didn't. He listened as they explained the ways he would need to improve for next year, and he saw Sam scribbling down notes. Maybe he realised Lance wasn’t retaining any of the information they were telling him.

    It took him a moment to realise that he had been excused. But he stood, and left without another word.

 

* * * * *

 

    Back down on the main floor, he slumped back over towards the counter to pick up his wand. Shay was smiling, happy to see him. Though Lance was thankful she seemed to be able to read the atmosphere around him.

    “ You’ll get them next time.” She said encouragely. “ She handed back Lances wand without even asking for the card. And Lance turned around.

    Through the main doors he saw a flurry of movement, a bustling crowd of reporters followed three people in. One Lance recognised as the Madam president, continued through the iron gate and out the other side, heading over to the bronze elevator on the opposite side. But he also recognised Allura Altea, warm brown skin, bright purple eyes, and white hair that was braided into a high bun. She was quite young to be a Madam Mayor, but Lance was far more impressed by her beauty. She was wearing a pastel and white robe set that complemented the beautiful color of her skin, and she had an air of command that gave her a grace without movement.

   Lance could remember from his history textbooks that her father had been a prominent alchemist in England and had made a name for himself when he migrated. She had also been able to make her own name known for her transfiguration. Lance wished he could approach her and ask her questions, it was such a good opportunity for information, but she was still addressing the crowd.

    “ I can assure you we are doing our best with regards to the rise in threats against nomaj and the hidden wizarding community.” Lance observed her English accent was still crisp and proper despite her time spent in America. “ You Know Who supporters are not Death Eaters and are all talk these days. We have our best Aurors working day and night to find and disband those groups.”

    “ What about the increase of kidnappings of young witches and wizards,” A reporter sounded off.  “their families want their children to come home. Is anything being done to protect those who cannot defend themselves?”

    “ We are looking into every lead. We know that Skulkers are responsible, but it is a large city, finding their hideout is tricky. So long as people are vigilant and report what they see, we can find those taken and bring those wrongful nomaj to justice within their own system.”

    Lance suddenly wanted to bring up those he had saw around his neighborhood. But another reporter spoke up from the crowd.

    “ What of our schools! Surly they are the largest targets to these groups, both You Know Who supporters and Nomaj criminals.”

    A tall man with a twirled ginger mustache and slicked back ginger hair, wearing lilac robes, stood forward. He made a show of clearing his throat to gain their full attention.

    “ Coran Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe, Head of magical Education.” He also had a foreign accent that Lance couldn’t place, not british… Australian maybe? It was not strange, the big wizard cities were full of wizards from all corners of the globe. “ I can personally assure you wall we have taken every precautions against anyone wanting to harm the students of this great land. I can assure you all, and any parents, that it is our top priority to make sure that students can learn magic within a safe environment. Or well, as safe as it can get when practicing magic. Why, I remember in my third year-”

    Coran seemed to dive deep into a story which, while many didn’t seem interested, seemed to capture the attention of the reporters all the same. Lance found himself moving over towards Alura Altea.

    “Excuse me, Madam Mayor Altea?”

    She looked at him, bright eyes that seemed to hold all the colors of a morning dawn. Lance felt like his tongue had swollen three sizes.

    “ Kulekers.”

    “ I beg your pardon.”

    “ Skulkers… around Humboldt park. I live near there, we have seen them get closer and closer towards that entrance to beneath.”

    She seemed taken back by the sudden proclamation. Lance realised that when she talked about people staying vigilant and reporting, she probably ment through the proper channels, not directly. Lance felt his misery swell as hotshame washed over him.

    She seemed to recover and smile. The same warm smile that her banner had greeted him with. While Madam president seemed to watch over all with the gaze of a leader, Madam Mayor Altea seemed to watch over her people with the warmth of a mother.

    “ Thank you for telling me this. I shall send over some authorities to the area.” She turned to leave.

    “ Mermaids too.. In red zones. By the shore lines around Belmont dog beach.”

    “ Mermaids?” She looked troubled, but she didn’t seem to not believe him. Lance nodded.

    “ Well.. one.”

    “ One is troubling enough.” She answered. Lance worried for a moment that she didn't believe him. “ Could I have your name?”

    “ Lance, Lance Mcclain.”

    “ Thank you Mr. Mclain. I shall have people look into this. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

    Lance couldn’t help but fall into greater misery upon leaving MACUSA headquarters. Even though Madam Mayor Altea had given him the time of day, and listend to him, it seemed as though she was just doing it to be polite. Lance felt stupid for his outburst. Which, added to the stupid he felt for being late, uneducated and now without a job prospect, made him feel as though he might as well go work as a nomaj.  The sky was dark and he sensed storms brewing in the air. Lance was always good about knowing when it was going to rain. Maybe it would wash him away with all his failures.

    He desperately wanted to not go home, to never return to talk about how their families lack of money and inability to send him to school had stopped his job. He would probably talk up being late to save them the embarrassment. Honestly. That Iverson. What a dick.

    Lance kicked a can as he walked the slow blocks back to the Alley where he had stood his bike, earning glares from strangers. But he didn’t care.

    A few raindrops hit Lances shoulder. He reached for the hood of his jacket but realised he hadn’t worn it. Rain started to poor. Lance didn’t hasen his pace.

    By the time he found his bike again it was pouring rain. The charm he had on it to increase its ability to ride faster was still active, and it caused the bike to weigh significantly less than a normal bike, so he hoisted the frame up onto his shoulder and looked around, contemplating his way home.

    His stomach growled, and he thought of somewhere better to go. A few blocks East, away from home, he headed towards the nearest train line to him. He entered the grimy station, stuck his pass card through the ticket machen, and hoped on the nearest train headed south. He earned some odd looks from passengers as he stood, soaking wet, holding the folded bike on his back. To them it must have seemed like the bike was beyond repair. He caught the eye of one drunk guy glaring at Lance for being so stupid as to hold on to it. Lance turned and explained it was an art project. The man didn’t seem less angry about Lance taking up space but it seemed to be a good enough excuse.  The nomaj had created some useful modes of transport that were unavoidable by witches and wizards. Nomaj could put money onto fair cards and use them everyday. Witches and Wizards can apply for them through MACUSA and use wizard money to get the nomaj equivalent of train fair.  Most wizards preferred wizards busses and taxes, which were much faster, but far more expensive than nomaj transport.

    He hopped out at Chinatown before squinting at the address he had scribbled on a bit of paper and balled up months ago.

    The restaurant wasn’t easy to find, down a few tricky odd allys and under an old set of raised train tracks.  Voltron… seemed like an odd name but Lance didn’t question it. Nomaj had odd names for things all the time. He hadn’t realised how much harder it was raining until he  found himself sheltered under the unused tracks. He left his bike off to the side, feeling as no one would take it.

    A small bell chimed as he entered Voltron and he was instantly greeted with a soft warm air. It was a little dim. Some of the lights that were on flickered, and the menu that was backlet behind vinyl signs seemed to be dying slowly. One side was already dark and a handwritten copy of the menu in that area had been taped to it. He approached the counter slowly, not seeing anyone eating in the small dining area, and half focused on the noise coming from the Tv off towards the back of the room. It had some odd Japanese television show on.

    “ Hello?” Lance said, clearing his voice. A man appeared through a door of to the sides, probably where the kitchen was. He was tall, and extremely well built. A tight black t-shirt visible behind a somewhat stained white apron. He had a tuft of white hair that set on a short cut of black hair and a prosthetic right arm.

    “ Hi there, do you have a pick up?”

    “ Uh.. no-”

    “ Oh! Would you like to order something?”

    “ I was actually wondering. Is Hunk here? Hunk Garnet?”

    “ Hunk? Yeah! He’s in the back. I can go get him if you want.”

    Lance nodded, and Shiro disappeared again behind the doors. Lance could hear him calling after his friend.

    Hunk, was one of Lances closest friends. He was nearly Nomaj. He had magic, he was born from a good wizarding family, and was a master when it came to potion work, but he hadn’t been to good when it came to wands, and had trouble getting into schools.

    So Hunk too was homeschooled, and close to Lance as well. They spent a lot of their free weekends and afternoons playing together in the streets of beneath. Hunk, being a bit of a scardy cat, was always keeping Lance out of trouble when he had his ideas to go gambling in sorrows or see the goblins and vampires that hang out in Shadows.

    Hunk entred into the main dining room, Large, round but strong, tan skin and a round nose. His bangs tied back with an orange bandana, but he probably could use a haircut. And a far more staind apron adorned on his chest and lower half.

    Hunk was a year older then Lance, and had ventured out a year and a half ago to find work in nomaj land. Lance, who thought he could at least get a job as an apothecary, was surprised when Hunk came back with a cook job at a normal restaurant in Chinatown. The dude wasn’t even Chinese.

    “ Lance!” Hunk said, moving over to hug him before pausing at how wet he seemed to be.

    “ Dude, what happened, your like… soaked.”

    “ Long day, can I have you look at something?”

    “ Yeah of course.” Hunk turned around and called out to the other man. “　Shiro, I’m taking my break.”

    “ Go for it!” Answered back.

    The two entered outside and Lance showed Hunk the tatted bike.

    “ Merlin dude… What did you do.”

    “ Some jerk fuckin hit me.”

   

    “ Woah really? Did you-”

    “ Nomaj Hunk. Couldn’t report it.”

    Hunk sighed and took out his wand from his back pocket, checking around before tapping the bike. This was the think Hunk was good at beyond Potions, repair charms. He also had a license to use magic in yellow zones where wizards worked nomaj jobs.

    “ What are you doing out tonight anyway?”

    “ MACUSA interview.”

    “ No way! Really? How did it-” Hunk cut himself off as he seemed to judge by Lances tired look that it didn’t go well. Hunk tapped the bike in a few more places till it was good as new, and straightened up from his work.

    “ Why don’t you come inside and call your mom.” Hunk said. “ You can wait till the rain stops, eat something and feel a bit better before you go home. It’s on me.”

    Lance smiled. Hunk was a good guy. Lance felt like crying.

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

    Inside, Shiro introduced himself and fetched one of the spare delivery boy uniforms for him to wear while his clothes dried in back.

    “ Our guy never wears them, so don’t feel guilty about it.” Shiro said as Lance sat awkwardly at an old vinyl booth. Shiro brought over a rotary phone so he could call his mom. A few code numbers and he could connect to the underground networks for wizards. Lance had heard that wizards in other countries didn’t know anything about phones. But here, once they had to work with Nomaj, the had to figure it out.

    The conversation was brief. Mostly vague due to his presents in the Yellow zone with nomaj so close by. But Lance observed that Shiro made no effort to listen in and instead went back to the kitchen to help Hunk. Hunk, after the phone call, brought over an array of dishes dishes from the menu, along with a large pot of rice. To Lances surprise, Shiro and Hunk joined in eating with him. Work must have been slow, Lance supposed. He hadn’t heard the phone ring once for an order and no one but them sat within the shabby dining area. Which was a shame because Hunks cooking, no matter what it was or how he made it, was delicious.

    Lance didn’t know too many nomaj. In Fact, he didn’t know any really. Shiro was an odd person he found out. He had lost his arm in a car accident, but didn’t seemed bothered by the attention or the  story at all.  He had apparently just moved from California, money issues. Hunk says according to Shiro’s younger brother, the man was too nice. Always giving away free meals. Lance made a note to leave some nomaj money behind for Hunk to help out with the meal.  His arm, Lance noticed, was rather clever. There was no magic, or even electricity. He flexed, and the thing gripped. Shiro had tried explaining it to Lance but it went over his head, still, Pidge would have loved it.

“ Why the Japanese on the TV?” Lance asked, still chewing a mouth full of beef lo mein. Conversation seemed to ease now as Lance forgot his horrible afternoon in exchange for good food and conversation.

    “ I’m Japanese.” Shiro answered simply.

    “ But this is a Chinese restaurant.”

    “ And yet no one is Chinese, welcome to the big industry lie. You should see how they staff sushi restaurants. If it looks asian enough, people don’t question it.”

    Lance laughed at this.

    “ Apparently,” Hunk added, “ This guy and his brother sold Japanese and Korean food in San Fran, but when they made the move here it was a dud. No one wanted to eat what they were cooking.”

    “ I think its location.” Shiro looked around at the restaurant with a critical eye, “ We got this place cheep but it still needs work.”

   

    Lance agreed, though not outloud.

    “ I think most of the money must have gone into the kitchen,” Hunk added, an air of pride, “ I’m working with the best stuff.”

    “ So are we.” Shiro added, gesturing to Hunk. If Lance didn’t already approve of Shiro, she sure did now. “ The dining room might be empty, but we at least get orders in now for delivery that we got Chinese food on the menu.”

    “ Why move if you were doing okay in San Francisco.”

    Shiro had just took a bite, and chewed it slowly in contemplation.

    “ Sometimes,” Shiro said carefully, “ Some bad stuff happens, that lead to worse and worse after that… it’s just best to leave that area. Start out fresh.”

    Lance felt, with Shiro’s conservative answer, that he had crossed across a bad topic of conversation. But he could understand what Shiro was saying. Many times, while he grew up in beneath, he tried to convince his mother that moving to another country would be best. They could move back home to Cuba and live in a proper wizard community. Or even somewhere else in the states that had more room for wizards. His mom would never budge.

    _“ This is our home Mijo. Why would we go somewhere else.”_

    His mother was stubborn like that, but he knew she had her reasons, and learned to drop the topic as he got older.

    Conversation lulled and Lance cracked open the cola that Hunk had given him, thinking about sofias gift. Would shops still be open?

    “ So what brings you down here in the rain?” Shiro asked.

    Lance nearly choked on his drink.

    “ Broken bike.” He choked out after a few awkward sputteres.. He gestured towards Hunk. “ He’s good at fixing stuff.”

    Shiro nodded in agreement.

    “ Had him fix a few things overnight, I don’t know how he does it, its like magic.” Lance forced a laugh. “ What happened to your bike?”

“ Got hit by some jerk on a motorcycle.” Lance shrugged. It was hard to be angry now when it seemed so long ago. And really… they had already decided.

    Shiro looked shocked.

    “ You’re alright? You’re not hurt or anything?”

    “ Oh yeah, I’m fine. It was like… around noon, I got uh… checked out. All good.”

    Shiro still looked unsure.

    “ I think we have a medkit in the back.”

    “ Really, Shiro. Im fine. I jumped off before I was really hit. It was just… my bike.”

    “ Would you be okay with if we gave you a ride home? We have a truck we can put your bike into. Where do you live?”

    “ There’s no nee-” Lance tried to answer back but Shiro waved his hand, dismissing him.

    “ I’m sorry Lance. I wouldn’t feel right letting you ride home. Was gonna offer anyway. Its late.”

   

    “ I can handle myself. I was born in this city.”

    “ I don’t doubt you can hold your own, but it’s still stupid to go out on your own, you should avoid it when you can.”

    Lance nodded, he felt like he had been scolded, but in a good way. A way that made him feel safe and thankful. A buzzer sounded in the distance, and Shiro stood.

    “ That’s probably your shirt in the dryer. I’ll go grab it along with my keys and we can go anytime.” Shiro stood from the table and strode off.

    “ There is really no use in arguing with him.” Hunk said smiling. “ I’d go with. I just gotta clean up and we can go together. “

    Hunk stood, grabbing some plates before heading back to the kitchen. Lance sighed and stood up, stretching and cracking his back as he did. He started pulling off his shirt over his head when the bell chimed. Lance let pulled the shirt over completely and left it resting as he looked for the newcomer.

    A boy, strong looking, with wild raven hair strode inside. He was wearing a plain black t-shirt with jeans to match. Tied around his waist, Lance noticed a jacket that was leather and red. The new arrival was also holding a bright red hemet.

    “ Hey Hunk.” The boy greeted when Hunk entered the room again to grab more plates. He slid past Hunk and Lance to sit in an open seat at the booth. The boy started digging into what food was left instantly. His helmet sitting, soaking wet, was left on Shiro’s chair. Lance was still frozen still holding the restaurant uniform shirt, unintentionally bearing his chest as he glared down at the helmet and then boy. The boy looked up at Lance after taking a large bite of food, giving a puzzled look. His eyes were a grayish purple, a sharp but open shape and long lashes. Lance hated them, he hated everything about this perfect pretty boy. The boy swallowed his bite.

    “ Who’s the new kid.” He directed at Hunk.

    “ Uh.. not a new worker. Keith, this is my friend, Lance.”

    Keith, who had taken another bite. Paused in chewing to look Lance over before, he nodded in a way that seemed to be a poor attempt at politeness before returning to look down at his plate. The eating continued. Hunk looked at Lance, who was still frozen.

    Lance pulled himself out of his shock slamming his fist on the table.

    “ YOU!!!”

    Keith didn’t seem surprised by the outburst, but looked up from his chewing again with an amused, tired, glare.

    “ Uh… Lance?”

    “ HE HIT ME!”

    Keith face unwavered say for his eyebrows which rose slowly.

    “ Wait… what?” Hunk said, looking between the two.

    “ He hit me! He’s the guy that crashed into me on my bike.”

    Hunk looked over at Keith.

    “ I doubt it.” This Keith guy said, his voice was dumb and stupid and no more needs to be known about it. “ I don’t remember hitting anyone.”

    “ You did! You hit me! I remember you had that stupid lion on the back of your stupid helmet covering your stupid mullet head.”

    Keith looked confrontational now.

    “ Yeah? I think I would have noticed hitting someone as annoying as you, blue boy.”

    “ Blue?” Hunk added.

    “ The bike outside is his right?” Keith asked.

    “ THE ONE YOU HIT!” Lance felt like he was fuming.

    “ Lance!” Hunk scolded. Lance wanted to punch this dude. What a dick.

    Lance felt Hunk tugging him away from Keith and out of earshot. Keith still looked angry, but sat down to continue eating.

   

    “ Lance, are you sure it was Keith?”

    “ YEAH I-”

    “ SHHhhhhh.” Hunk shushed him. “ If your mom put a charm on that bike there is a good chance he really didn’t feel you.”

    “ He could have still seen me.” Lance pouted.

    “ Not likely. Keith is a good rider, but he has blinders on sometimes.

    “ oH! And that's an EXCUSE? What if I Did get hurt? HmmmmMMMM?!”

    “Look,” Hunk put up his hands in defence, “ there is probably no way to prove it was or wasn’t Keith.” Aside from the fact that LANCE SAW HIM! “ Does it even matter? You’re fine and so is your bike.”

    “ IT Matters because I was late to a JOB INTERVIEW BECAUSE OF HIM!”

    “ Because of who?”

    Shiro appeared, swinging keys around his left pointer finger. Lances shirt was clutched in his right prosthetic hand. Lance took the shirt far more carefully then he wanted to, growling a quick thanks, before stalking back towards the entrance. Far away from that mullet. He avoiding looking at the horrible boy, and the horrible boy did the same for him. Or, so he thought at first. As he started to button up his dry shirt over his chest, out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw Keith looking away. Asshole.

    “ KEITH!” An angry voice sounded from Shiro in the corner with Hunk. Lance found his own anger on pause as he looked over to Shiro who was glaring at Keith. Keith pushed away from the table harshly, grabbing his helmet, and stormed over to Shiro were the two started to have a whispered, yet heated, argument. Hunk, who had shied away after Keith made his way over, slid up to Shiro.

    “ I explained to Shiro, he believes you. If you recognised his helmet then it was him. It was a custom paint job.”

    A loud bang sounded, the two turned to see that Keith had stormed off behind the kitchen doors. Keith’s exit seemed to take all the other sound out of the room, say for the buzz of cars passing by outside, and the ramblings of the person on the TV. Moments later the silence was broken by heavy foot falls echoing from above. Shiro let out a long sigh.

    “ I’m sorry about this.” Shiro said finally to the pair, who both jumped after being addressed so suddenly. Lance felt guilty for starting an argument between the pair, for the sake of Shiro rather than the mullet.

    “ It’s fine.” Lance concluded. His anger claimed again. His mother always said his anger was like a firecracker. Loud hot and over fast. His brother also said that fireworks were fun to watch go off, but could also hurt and burn others. This thought ran through his mind and he felt even worse.  He couldn’t think of anything else to say though, as he still felt anger towards Keith.

    “ We should get you home, Hunk. Don't worry about cleaning up. I’ll have Keith do it.” Hunk nodded and went to go grab his coat.

  

 

* * * * *

 

 

    Shiro’s car was a large black pickup truck. It looked like it was at least twenty or thirty years old and several dense and rusty patches marred the lower half, but it ran surprisingly smoothly. Lance had seen old cars Above near his home, they usually didn’t run so well, he guessed that Shiro must keep after the inside workings rather than the outside.

    “ I’m sorry again,” Shiro started up as they drove, Lance was squeezed between the two giant men. “ Did it affect your job interview?”

    Lance considered his answer. Part of him wanted Keith to suffer more, but he thought better of it.

    “ Nah.. I was late because of him, but they don’t like my schooling.” Hunk looked over at him, giving him a sad smile.

    “ Hunk was the same,” Shiro said. “ I’m surprised. What school did you too go to?”

    “ No school.” Hunk explained.

    “ We were homeschooled.” Lance added.

    “ Ah.” Shiro seemed to understand. “ Keith has the same issues.”

    “ Really?” Hunk asked. Shiro looked guilty. He must not be allowed to talk about it.

    “ Well,” Lance said, changing the subject. “ It wasn’t a job anyway. More like a learning experience.”

    “ An internship?”

    “ I guess?”

    Shiro nodded, but didn’t ask what the internship was for.

    “ What are you gonna do about work?” Hunk asked. Lance shrugged.

    “ I may be overstepping here,” Shiro started. “ But I could use some extra help around the restaurant. It’s just us, Keith Hunk and me. If you want a job, we have a place for you. Mind you pay isn’t great.”

    “ I’ll take it!”

    Shiro jumped at Lance's enthusiasm but smiled. To be honest, it wasn’t pay that Lance was concerned about. It was freedom. He couldn’t leave Beneath without a proper job, nomaj or wizarding. The extra pay would help him buy new books while he studied to apply again to be an Auror next year. Who knows. Maybe some of the people who they accepted today weren’t up to snuff and he could get a call sooner than expected.

    “ Okay, that’s settled then.” Shiro said smiling, happy that Lances mood improved. “ Head over with Hunk tomorrow around ten in the morning and we can start work.”

    Lance looked to Hunk next to him who was grinning wide. The two high fived which caused Shiro to laugh.

   

 

* * * * *

 

 

    Hunk managed to convince Shiro to let them off near the park, with little explanation as to why and shiro waved his prosthetic arm as he drove away.

    “ Look at that.” Hunk said still grinning. “ Silver linings.”

    “ Yeah. All I had to do is get run over by a dingbat on motorcycle.” Lance laughed. He was still happy to have a job and a reason to leave Beneath. Shiro had even been nice enough to stop off at a gas station so Lance could buy a whole box of pop rocks for Sofia. Hunk’s smile dimmed.

    “ He really isn’t a bad guy.” Hunk explained. “ He’s always been super nice to me.”

    “ You’re a hard guy to be mean too.”

    “ And your fun to pick on.”

    Lance pouted.  

    Hunk waved as he headed off further down the street towards his apartment while Lance paused in front of his front gate, it was quite, and only one small dim light shown from the living room window. He took in a long breath, letting it out in a somehow longer sigh as he headed inside.

    He entered the front door quietly, turning to see his mother fast asleep in an oversized armchair. Her charmed needle point, that hovered next to her unsupervised, had begun to create a large patch of blue thread outside of the design.

    Lance tapped it with his wand and the needlepoint fell from its spot in the air into a basket on the floor by the chair. Lance put his wand away and nudged his mother's shoulder slightly.

    She aroused quickly, blinking her eyes until they focused on Lance in the dim light. She hugged him, with no words or hesitations. Lance hugged back, held to her like an archer. When she finally let go, he knelt by her side. Her hand cradled his chin and he felt a callus warm thumb brush over his skin.

    “ I’m sorry mijo.” She said. There was a sprinkling of tears in her eyes.

    “ Don’t be. It’s not your fault.”

    “ It is. We do our best but… I knew you deserved a better education.”  

    Lance gripped his mothers hand, he did not move it from its place, but held it in its spot, looking her in the eyes.

    “ It’ll be fine. I already got a Nomaj job. Same place Hunk is at.” He made sure to add that on so she would be less concerned, she was never a fan of wizards having to work Nomaj jobs while they were forced to live underground. But she smiled and nodded, not saying a word before standing up. Lance helped her and the two continued to bed.

    Hawkeye was back when Lance arrives to his room. He flopped over onto his bed, not bothering to change or climb under the sheets. It had been a long day, and it was the first in what he knew would be more long days to come.


	3. A fresh Coat of Hate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance attempts to make his mark on the rundown resturant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the off period. I had some big distractions and then some struggles building momentom on the story again. This is kind of an awkward chapter in my opinion, but now that it's out of the way I hope to flow more into what I want this to be about and the main drama.

**Chapter three: A Fresh Coat of Hate**

Lance tugged the blanket over his head as the outside world tried its best to drag him out, into the sunshine, with a barash of noise. His mother no longer banged at his door before breakfast, letting him sleep in, for the first time in his life. Which was great because most nights he wouldn’t arrive home from Voltron until two in the morning. 

It wasn’t the fact that they were busy. Quite the opposite in fact. Lance had reached new levels of boredom, yet seen by wizard kind in the past few weeks. He was forever thankful of Hunk, who was always good for conversation, but the two of them had to be careful about what they talked about with Shiro walking around, so that limited conversation topics greatly. Lance could only listen to Hunk talk about foreign spices or buttercream icing recipes before his brain tuned it all out.

Lance spent most of his time at the restaurant cleaning, though Shiro never asked him too. Lance just did it for lack of anything better to do.  But there was only so many times you could polish, sweep, and scrub at scratch tables, stained floors and shaggy chairs. Yes despite his best efforts the restaurant still looked dingy.

It made his muscles ache from cleaning like a nomaj. He had plenty of practice when he was growing up before he had gotten his wand, but he also had tons of family helping. Cleaning for a full nine hours was too much for anyone.

 He could use some magic to help along when no one was around, but Keith seemed to always hang around the dining room eating or reading a newspaper, or just outside fixing his bike. He had this odd feeling most of the time that Keith was watching him. In Fact Lance was sure he was being monitored by the angry asshat. Lance hadn’t caught him yet though, so after his first day when he confronted Keith but didn’t have any proof, Lance dropped it and continued trying to be the better man about it.

If Lance had to summarize, working at a Nomaj restaurant wasn’t nearly as fun and cool as he thought it would be. And he was beginning to get this overwhelming desire to use his pass to Above to just look for new job opportunities. Shiro would probably give him a good recommendation, right?

The warmth of the morning sun could be felt from underneath his blankets. It wrapped around him, creating a warm cocoon of which Lance had no intention of bursting. He felt strange thoughts sliding into his mind, drawing him back to a dream, one where Hunk was playing the guitar and shiro was conducting, using his artificial limb as a baton, which wasn’t too odd because Shiro wasn’t missing an arm, right. Lance was dancing to a melody he hardly remembered,　and with someone he knew but couldn’t place. He felt warm with this person. A uplifting feeling filled him till he appeared to actually be floating upwards, still dancing on the air.  He felt himself spin and then he realised that him, along with his partner, were engulfed in fire. The face that he couldn’t place was obscured by the flame. Yet the fire didn’t hurt Lance, nor bother his partner as they danced, taking hold of Lance and bending him backwards...

Backwards

Backwards…

Thump.

Lance skrewed up his face, adjusting his eyes  from his new position. The world was upside down, and Lance could see Hawkeye pecking vigorously at the window. His neck hurt like this. He let his legs fall, pushing him further on to the floor and away from the bed. He looked up at the window. Erratic tapping causing throbs of pain at his temples with each strike.

“ Hawkeye… the dooooor.” He pointed to the lower left window pain where fabric hung inplace of glass. Hawkeye looked at it, and then resumed frantic pecking.

“ Useless.” Lance groned. He stood up and opened the window, letting Hawkeye inside. Hawkeye chirped happily, bouncing awkwardly as he presented his leg.

“ Hold still you stupid-” Hawkeye was hard to grasp as he twittered and jumped around in excitement. “ got it.” Hawkeye nipped Lances finger in affection then flew to his perch, leaving Lance to examine the letter.

It was from Pidge for sure, he could tell by the handwriting, and it was written in her prefered green ink. He opened it.

_ Lance, _

__ _ That stinks major about MACUSA not letting you join in training. Seriously you would think they would take everyone into training. It's not like it’s the actual job yet. I’ll give my Dad an earful, for not giving you a proper heads up. Maybe I’ll send him a howler. Mom got me some for my birthday to send to Matt ( and  you. ) _

_ But you sure do recover fast. I’m jealous you get to work with Hunk, even if it is in some Nomaj place, I hate to admit it but I do miss you two.  _

  * __Pidge.__



 

_ P.S.   Send me more pics of you idiots, I need something to laugh at.  _

Lance chuckled but closed the letter and slid it into a box on his desk full of letters. Pidge probably wanted proof that she had friends outside of school. Lance would have to make sure it was a good photo. 

He moved over to Hawkeye who flitted down to land closer to him and receive some owl treats. Lance fed them to the small bird one by one, the idiot tended to choke on them if he got too excited. He gave the bird a small scratch on the head before moving to get dressed for the day.

Lance was thankful Shiro didn’t ask Lance to wear anything special for the job. It gave Lance a chance to show off his many collected Muggle t-shirts. He chose a green shirt that had ‘monday man’ written in white text and coupled it with blue jeans and his ever faithful backpack, camera safely packed inside along with some other supplies.

His mother had toast ready for him as he sped through the kitchen, shuffling on his shoes and scrambling out the door with a grace that could only be practiced. 

He saw Hunk waiting on his bike and acknowledged him with a salute. Hunk rolled his eyes but Lance could see that smile, Hunk was week to the Lance charm. Lance waved him out of the way as he grabbed his bike and the two set off. 

The great thing about riding your bike in Beneath? They peddled themselves, which left Lance to enjoy his jam toast breakfast.

“ Sleep in?” watching Lance take a large bite

“ Just a bit. Gotta a letter from Pidge.” 

“ Yeah?”

Lance wiped crumbs from his mouth and pointed at his bag.

“ We should take another photo soon.”

Hunk nodded, but he frowned with concern. 

“ I’m worried about her. Is this about her way of coping with the lack of friends? You think she’s being bullied?”

“ I’m not saying Pidge couldn’t be bullied but she’s built tough. She’s a duler and wields the bat booger hex like a cowboy wields a six shooter. She’s fine, just homesick.”

Hunk didn’t seem convinced.

“ She just misses us because we were the only ones who ever gave her a good conversation. She’s probably surrounded by idiots.”

Hunk rolled his eyes.

“ I think she misses me for that. She misses picking on you.”

Lance flicked a crust at Hunk, attempting to hit him in the forehead. But Hunk, ever skilled with food, caught it in his mouth. Lance tried not to be jealous of such a talent.

The ride to work after that was mostly silent. An occasional joke or story rose up but once they were Above they had to watch their words carefully. Lance often spent the ride deciding on what he was going to do to the restaurant. Shiro had yet to really assign him any work aside from answering phones in the later evening, or a basic cleaning duty. Lance wanted to spruce up the place to bring in more customers but Shiro didn’t want to spend any extra money. Which was fair.

“ What I need.” Lance said out loud catching Hunks attention. “ Is some time alone to work my ‘magic’.”

“ Lance, you can’t just turn the place into a five star dining experience overnight, it will raise questions. Just stick to cleaning. You’re doing great! The place looks nice.”

“ Nice doesn’t bring in the customers. The place needs a fresh coat of paint.”

“ Then paint it.”

Lance nearly stopped riding.

“ What, like for real?”

“ Get some paint with  your pay and paint it. Shiro will pay you back if it works out to help the restaurant.”

Lance thought about that for a moment. For one, the Nomaj way of painting wouldn’t be easy, and he didn’t make a lot from Shiro as is.

“ How much does paint cost?” Lance asked, thinking about how much nomaj money he had on him.  Hunk just shrugged. 

“ No clue. Probably goes up in quality, and you will need a lot. Also supplies and we would have to rope off sections of the restaurant. Now that I think about it maybe Shiro won't let you do it.” 

Lance was already thinking of colors. 

“ Sure?” Shiro answered. The hesitancy in his tone most likely due to the fact that Lance had just stormed in asking about painting without so much as a goodmorning. The sure was all Lance needed before he was was jammering on his ideas.

“ Uh… Lance. I can’t pay for all of that.” 

“ Take it out of my pay. Also could I have a little advance?”

Shiro sighed, but went over to the register. 

“ I don’t want you slacking off from your normal duties. Okay?” Shiro explained. “ Keep recipes, I’ll pay you back as I can.” Shiro said with a heavy tone. Lance felt bad for Shiro, he really wanted this place to work out, but it just couldn’t without a good place to dine. 

“ You can count on me Shiro. I'm gonna make this place awesome.” 

Shiro smiled and waved Lance off.

Two hours later, he was back with paint, rollers, brushes, trays, plastic, tarp and tape. Shiro dug out an old step ladder for Lance to use and even helped Lance cover half the dining room with plastic and tarp.  Once everything was set, and some ‘before’ pictures were taken, Lance was off. 

A small radio hung off the side of the step ladder playing music softly as the ladders main occupant sang along, just over powering the vocals. 

_ Listen baby, ain't no mountain high _

_ Ain't no valley low, ain't no river wide enough baby _

_ If you need me call me no matter where you are _

__ Lance heard the phone ring from behind him and Shiro’s voice answering it in the distance. He stopped his singing, not wanting to be too loud, and instead hummed. 

Foot falls crunched against the plastic tarp and made there way over to one of the plastic covered tables just behind Lance as he finished up the back wall. He had begun to think it would be could if he got a few samples of different shades of red and made some kind of design back here. Maybe a dragon?

“ What the hell is all this?”  A voice groaned from behind him. Lance didn’t need to turn around to see who it was. Keith must have finally woken up and made his way down. Now that Lance cleaned the restaurant, Keith only appeared whenever the first order came in.

“ I’m giving this place some color, thought that was obvious.”

“ That’s white paint.” Keith said staring at the nearly white back wall. Nearly all the gross dirty mint green paint was gone. 

“ It’s primer. It will be red when I’m done.” A deep warm red, with a goldish yellow trim, and some green plants around the place? And that dragon!

“ Oh…” Keith answered looking around. “ Why red?”

“ It suits the place. I’m not tryin’ to break the mold on what people expect a chinese restaurant to look like, I just wanna make this place look nice.”

“ It didn’t look so bad before?”

“ It was the color of two week old snot,” Lance moved to turn around “ Or is that something your int-” The ladder, which had been holding up fine so far, began to shake. Lance felt his heart rate jump with adrenalin. He had almost fallen off this death trap. What he wouldn’t give to just charm the damn brush.

Keith had taken a step forward to help steady the ladder.

“ Jesus. Don’t break  your neck on this thing.”

“ Didn’t know you cared.” Lance winked

“ Shiro can’t pay the compensation to your family.” Keith answered flatly. Lance pouted.

Keith let Lance get back to work, Lance wasn’t really sure what he was doing, but he seemed to be keeping to himself so Lance did the same. Lance turned his attention back toward his work and the radio.

_ That was Ain’t No Mountain High Enough of the album United 1967. Your listing to 88.6 FM radio Rock of the Nation with me, your host, Liz West. Let’s pick up the heat with some sweet rebellion by The Runaways. Coming up. Cherry Bomb. _

__ Lance tapped his foot along to the rhythm, finishing his last few spots of paint on the ladder. He climbed off, folding it up to move around to the next section by the booth seats. He saw that Keith was watching him.

He wished Keith would just leave already. Cherry Bomb was one of his favorite Nomaj songs and he couldn’t even jam along properly. To be fair, being watched would not normally dampen his spirit, but Keith was such a downer it felt weird. And he was still watching him. 

Lance got away with mouthing along as he knelt near the floor, the booth wall hiding Lance from Keith's sight. He soon let himself fall into the rhythm, falling deeper and deeper into his jam.

“ You like this music huh?” Lance jumped and nearly splattered white paint all over himself.  Lance took some long calming breaths before turning to glare at Keith, head rested on folded arms watching from the top of the booth.

“ Ya huh.” Lance said stiffly. “ It’s got a beat, and you can dance to it.” He added dryly. Keith cocked an eyebrow but Lance just left him to return to his work. He should invest in a walkman or something. 

“ HELLO WORLD!” Hunk bust through singing loudly over the music, carrying a few trays stacked with Lunch.

“ I’m your wild girl..” He spun around with a graceful and sensual twirl before setting the trays down on a cleared off table.

“ I'm a Ch ch CH CH ch ch ch CHERRY BOMB!” His shoulders interchanged raising and falling while his head bounced from side to side before he shouted and broke out an air drum solo. 

Lance laughed wildly and cranked up the tunes before leaving his brush behind to join his friend in there jam out sesh.

Fully engulfed in his dancing, Lance almost didn’t notice Keith watching them with a bemused look. Lance waved the boy over who just responded with a slow shake of his head. Lance responded with a shrug that said “ suits yourself.” and as if on cue, Shiro burst in on the next chorus line, shredding a mad air guitar solo. Soon the trio were kicking and bouncing around, rocking out while Keith watched and laughed at the sight. 

“ Dude!” Hunk said backhanding Lances shoulder playfully. “ Where is your moment. This is a perfect Pidge moment.”

“ A what now?” Keith asked. He had stood up and moved over to the area where Hunk had set up lunch. 

“ Our friend Pidge. She goes to a private school out of state, Hunk and I like to send her photos to remind her of all the fun she is missing while she is off getting a ‘Higher Education’.” Lance finished that last line with a flourish and air quotes as he moved away from the dance party over to his bag. 

Lance balanced his camera on some cups and set a timer.

“ Dude, that thing is ancient.” Keith snorted. Lance shot him a glare but didn’t acknowledge it. He had an instant camera, but it was built so that the film developed wizard pictures, the ones that moved. With this older one he wouldn’t have to hide the magical evidence right away.

“ Get over here ‘new Pidge’” Lance said tugging on Keith’s jacket collar to pull him into frame. Keith fought against him, leaving lance with bearly enough time to pose.

“Lance! Could you do one more? For the shop?” Shiro asked. Lance nodded and moved to set the timer again. 

“ Keith! Turn around and smile.” The older brother commanded.

Keith turned, and bared his teeth. It wasn’t so much a smile as it was Keith literally showing his teeth void of any emotion except a seething rage. Lance wrapped an arm around Lance and poked Keith's cheek just as the flash went, Keith turned and nearly bit Lances finger off.

Lunch seemed to bring a calm to everyone, only keith still seemed agitated, but that was probably because he had to keep having to do deliveries. Which wasn’t like anyone else wasn’t affected. Shiro had to answer calls,  Hunk had to cook, and Lance had to be left with Keith before the order was ready. They were all suffering.

Eventually Lance got back to painting and finished the first full coat of the restaurant walls, moving back to that first area for the second coat. It probably would have gone faster if he didn’t have to keep moving plastic around, but he could only afford so much tarp. 

“ Ugh. I wanna use magic. This stinks.” Lance groaned leaning on the counter of Hunks kitchen, nursing a sore wrist. 

“ SHhhh!” Hunk scolded, even though Shiro was on the phone in another room and Keith was out on delivery. “ And get off that counter with your nasty paint butt.”

Lance removed his but from the area but shook it with a sarcastic sexy motion before he moved it back to lean against a wall. 

 

“ Shiro’s on the phone and Keith's out on delivery.”

“ Still. Where not at home. Anyone could be listing.”

“ Paranoide.” Lance said picking up a spoon and sampling some of the sauce Hunk was working on. It was spicy with tofu and ground beef. Lance hummed his approval.

“ Quit snacking. If you wont help me do dishes then go back to painting.”

“ But It’s taking foreveeeeer.” Lance said slumping against the wall. He just wanted to take a nice long bath at home. With all his soaps and scented products.

“ I know. But Shiro was really impressed with how much you’ve gotten done.” Lance perked up.

“ Really? You’re not just saying that?”

“ No. I can tell he’s happy someone is doing this. He doesn’t have the time and Keith doesn’t seem to have the will or want to. It’s like you really care about this place.”

“ Of course I do.” Lance said. 

In truth, he was far less attached to Voltron as he was to the idea of having a job or working with his best friend. He would gladly follow Hunk, if Hunk decided to work elsewhere, or get his Auror job. Painting was just something to do with his time. But now that Shiro really approved.

Everyone in Lances family had one thing, one thing that would make that person do anything. Alphones, it was a bet. Sofia, bribe her with muggle items. Lance's mom, praise her cooking. Lance…. Praise him.

Not like a dog or anything weird like that. But living in a big family it's hard to stand out, to be noticed for any good deeds. Shiro had a kinda dad/ older brother vibe about him, which made Lance feel a pull knowing he was appreciated by the older guy.

Lance stood back up and made his way over towards the entrance to the dining area. 

“ Where are you off too?” Hunk said, a smile evident in his voice.

“ To finish pai-” But he stopped when he saw Shiro coming into the kitchen.

“ Team meeting guys?” He said, worried tone evident. Lance could see his eyebrows knitted in consern just under the toff of white hair. Hunk lowered the heat on what he was currently brewing and Lance stepped back, allowing Shiro into the space. Lance felt strangely small in this tiny space being filled by two huge guys.

Shiro let out a long and drawn out sigh, crossing his arms.

“ Their is kinda a family emergency.”

“ Oh man! What happened?” Hunk, ever the sweetheart. Super and instantly concerned.

“ Just some health issues with our grandmother.”

“ You’re grandma? She must be ancient.” Hunk smacked Lance on the back of the head. Which Lance could appreciate considering how much lighter Hunk hit compared to Shiro who was glaring at him and who had a wood arm. 

“ She just needs someone to check in. Usually she has someone but they can’t make it so I gotta fly back to New York to check in.”

“ Holy crow. You’re going all the way to New York for a sick grandma?” 

“ Not a sick grandma, My sick grandma. I’m leaving Keith here but I don’t want you guys to have to run the restaurant without me. Lance, finish painting. Hunk, you can use this as time off or help Lance out. I have to head out now so could you tell Keith when he gets back?”

“ Yeah sure, you can count on me Shiro.” Lance said with a mock salute. Not expecting a tired, but honest smile in return.

“ I know I can. Stay safe  you too, don’t burn the place down.” Shiro finished with a half hearted wave before he left the Kitchen. Lance could hear him stepping up stairs, probably to pack.

“ Even if we did burn the place down, it wouldn’t make a difference.”

“ Lance!”

Shiro left soon after. As did hunk who had finished cleaning up for the night. Lance was on his second wind, and had to wait up for Keith. Though he could just leave a note, Lance thought. He hadn’t expected Keith would be gone so long. Had there been trouble with an order? Either way, it was good time to work. Once the second coat was done he could go home and sleep, and start color tomorrow.  

He yawned, looking over at the clock. 2AM.  It really was getting late. Part of him was ready to storm out the door, leave a note pasted to it. But he waited, sketching out some designs for the far back wall over by the main desk. He had long since turned the lights off in the restaurant and was now working under a small desk lamp by him.

Lance was walking down a side street, following painted neon yellow arrows, he followed them so close that he didn’t realise he had changed locations and the neon turned to a grass green, the asphalt around him to dirt. He was soon in a field, a sunny field of sunflowers. He touched one and it started to grow bigger and bigger, he held on tight as it pulled him up into the sky where a huge Red dragon was circling him. Its eyes were bright p-

“ Yo, wake up.” 

Lance started, snorting slightly. He could feel a wet patch of drool chilling on his skin. The light he had been working at before passing out, was turned off. It seemed as if he might of fried the bulb without thinking. He looked up into the dark to see a silhouette of Keith, eyes seeming to almost shine in the darkness. The restaurant was no only lit by street light bleeding in small beems, but Lance could still see Keith’s eyebrow raised in question.

“ Why are you here? Where is Shiro.”

“ Grandma is sick….”

“ What?” 

Lance shook his head slightly, he was still drowsy. Lance peeked at his watch, no wonder it had only been a half hour nap.

“ Your grandma…” Lance started again looking for a light. “ She’s sick.”

Lance checked under the desk finding a Large drawer of replacement bulbs, leave it to shiro to over stock. He replaced the bulb while explaining. 

“ Shiro went to look after her.” Still silence. “ So he’ll be in New York.”

“ Oh, Right.” Keith said, finally understanding. To be fair Lance had just assumed, maybe both Keith’s grandmothers had been alive. He didn’t realise the nomaj lived so long. 

“ Yeah…” Lance answered simply. He put the old bulb in a trash can and started screwing in the new one, it was tricky without light. “ Shiro told me to tell you so I waited.”

“ You didn’t have to do that,  you could have left a note.”

“ Well I didn’t think you would have take so GAH!”

Lance had finally screwed in the light which flooded their surroundings, including, Keith's face. Which was close, and bloody.

“ WHat the-” Keith was looking at him like a confused puppy, yet his nose was bleeding and he had  a decent bruse blossoming on the left side of his face.  “ What the heck is all this!?” Lance made a move to look at the bruse, to make sure it wasn’t just dirt or anything like that, but Keith shied away, grasping Lance by the rist in the process.

“ Don’t.” Keith spoke in a low warning tone.

“ What are you gonna do, bleed on me?” Lance responded, but he could see the abrasions, scuffs and blood on the knuckles of keiths gloves now.  Keith could probably kick his ass.

Lance let out a long sigh, looking down at his wrist again. He was so sleepy, but…”

“ Come on.”

Keith quirked an eyebrow but let himself be dragged by Lance. Shiro probably had some ‘Keith care’ kit upstairs. He had heard from Hunk and Shiro that Keith is, to put it nicely, ‘scrappy’ at times.  And he was fairly good with Nomaj medicine, or the basic stuff. 

Keith stopped dead. 

“ Where do you think you’re going?” 

His tone was cold, and harsh. 

“ Medical supply-” Keith pushed him against a wall roughly, and Lance felt a rage and will to fight back grow within him, he had to shut it down, he couldn’t let it loose, or he might reveal himself.

“Upstairs is off limits. That’s our home.”

“ Then go get me your first aid kit.”

Keith stared at him, still glaring.

“ We don’t have one.”

“ Bull shit. You go look upstairs and I'll look down here.” Lance said, finally pushing against Keith so he could serch. Keith looked a little shocked by the push back, but disappeared upstairs. 

Lance stormed around, looking in Hunks kitchen. Honesty. He knew Nomaji were privet, and assholes, but Keith took the cake with both. Lance managed to find a kit that looked relatively unused. Shiro probably thought Hunk was just that good, but Lance knew Hunk would get any cuts and burns treated by his mother when he would get home.

Lance walked back out into the main room where Keith was standing there, no kit, but a pillow and blanket under his arms. Lance almost let his curiosity overtake him, but he was so angry he just wanted to go home. 

“ Sit.” Lance demanded, and Keith surprisingly listened. Lance moved the light over to get a better look at Keith's face. He must have washed it slightly while upstairs because it was still a little wet and the blood from the nose was mostly gone.

Lance worked in silence. Searching for each item, forgetting at times, he was looking through a muggle aid kit. He dabbed away the rest of the blood. There was a small cut on his eyebrow, Lance wouldn’t have noticed if not for the blood, he trimmed some of the hair down and cut some thin strips of tape to close the cut. He found some cream for bruises and applied it to the eye cheek and nose. He found some large stickers which he remembered Pidge buying as a kid and covering herself with them and applied them to the nose and cheek so that the ointment wouldn’t smear too much. Then Lance held out his hands. 

Keith stared at it.

“ Your hands.”

Keith startled as he released and put his right hand into Lances open left. Lance peeled off the glove, earning the first noteworthy hiss of pain from Keith.

“ I guess I don’t need to ask, who got the best out of the fight.” Lance said, reaching for some ointment to smooth over the bruised and slightly bloody knuckles. “ It looks like you had a fight with a brick wall.”

“Someone tried to mug me, when I was walking back to my bike…”

“ And the guy?”

“ Out cold. One of the customers nabours called the cops. Statements and whatever.”

“ hmm… “ That explained the crazy lateness Lance supposed. 

“ What.”

“ Nothin’.”

“ ‘Hmmm’ doesn’t mean nothing.”

“ It can mean many things, including nothing.”

“Lance.”

“ Fine, I was thinking about Shiro.”

Lance looked up to see a flabbergasted and slightly flushed Keith. 

“ Wha-”

“ He worries about you.” Keith seemed to understand, flush and surprise fading. “ At first I thought it was a brother thing, but he was really worried about making sure you got home safe.”

Keith looked guilty.

“I know it wasn’t your fault you got mu-”

“ I lied.”

Lance looked at Keith who wasn’t meeting his eye anymore, he was looking at the floor in shame.

“ This group of guys… they were drunk, being dicks. I had already been stiffed on some tips and was… frustrated. They were pulling me over trying to get me to get them free Chinese food with some ‘ching chong wing wong meow mix honkon’ rasist bulshit and I went off.”

“ How many guys?”

“4.. Ish. 5 but one of them didn’t really get involved beyond calling the cops.”

“ They get your plate number?”

“ Don’t think so… I was pretty far away from the bike at that point. Parked it inside the back tonight, just incase.”

“ You’re more worried about your bike then yourself.”

“ I love my bike.”

Lance gave Keith a dry expression. But he finished up Keith's hands asking if there was any other damage. Keith removed his shirt which had some bruising around his ribs.

“ You should invest in a bicycle. No plates.” Surprisingly, Keith chuckled at that.

“ Offering me criminal advice?”

“ Offering good advice.”

Keith just rolled his eyes.

There was a tiny… itty bitty… doxy size of a feeling in Lance that excited from seeing Keith so close up and touching him. It was super intament. Sure, he had seen more naked chests then most his age. In the summer the girls in his family would wear lighter looser clothing, sometimes grandma would spill out, and the men in his family would sometimes be almost naked. It was just normal. He had even seen Hunk and Pidge shirtless… it was no big deal. But Keith…

He was tone. He supposed Nomaji had to be, but still. Shiro was like a mini fridge sat down on a shallow table, hunk was spherical muscle. Pidge was a toothpick that could somehow kick your ass, and Lance was like pulled out taffy, yet he had some muscles hidden.

Keith was stocky but fit. Greek sculptors would have gone gay over him. Lance found the attraction… small… nothing to tack any meaning on to. He finished looking up at Keith for a moment to see that the boy had been watching him with intense eyes. Lance gulped. Holy shit. 

SMALL. SMALL SMALL SMALL. So very tiny. A speck of dust of an emotion on the overall rage ball that was Lance.

Keith was mumbling something.

“ Huh?” Lance asked in a snap which caused Keith to jump and then turn to look at the window. Lance followed his gaze in question. He thought he saw a shadow move under the streetlight. Was it just his imagination?

“ Thank-you.” 

Lance turned back to see Keith was not really looking at the window, just away from him. In a way it was like Keith admitted defeat, and Lance guessed he probably wasn’t very good at that. 

“ Sure. No problem. Go get some sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Lance said, standing up and going to retrieve his bag from behind the counter.

“ You’re leaving?” Keith asked, shooting up. 

“ Yeah? Its like… nearly 3 Am.”

“ You can… stay?”

The way he said it was odd. It was an offer for sure, but in the tone of a question. Lance raised his eyebrow.

“ Where? You won’t let me upstairs.” Keith pointed to the pillow and blanket  he had smuggled down from upstairs, along with something dark folded on top.

“ what… down here?!” Lance said, he tried to hide the disdain in his voice. It wasn’t a bad idea, the booths were actually pretty comfy. But… “ It’s all creepy down here at night. Too big a space. And it reeks of paint.”

“ Well whose fault is that.” 

“ I wasn’t thinking about sleeping here when I started.”

“ Look!” Keith started, getting aggressive. “ I can’t let you upstairs. Im sorry. But I also can’t let you go home this late. Okay? Take a booth further back and I can bring you a nightlight if your scared.”

“ Fine! Whatever! I don’t need a nightlight.” Lance fanned Keith off. “ But you’re buying me breakfast in the morning.”

“ Fine.”

“ I want Mcdonalds.”

“ Fine?”

Lance gave him one swift nod, then walked passed Keith to collect the beding.

“ what’s this?” Lance said holding up the dark item.

“ Something to sleep in. Goodnight.”

And Keith left to head up stairs. Lance couldn’t figure that guy, an odd mix of asshole and considerate human being, Lance wondered if Keith had ever been confounded a bunch as a kid. His own Great Uncle Charlie had been confounded 17 times in the span of two weeks by his wife and after his dad said it was like they had to Charlies.

One that was quick to dule any wizard and one that liked bird watching.

Lance wished he had his wand. Changing with the large open windows felt extremely exposed. He shimmied out of his jeans quick and left them on a pile on the table before he pulled off his shirt. It reeked from todays work, it would not have been fun to sleep in at all. He set it down on the table and fished for the dark clothing. It was just a shirt. Soft cotton, and probably black. It was long for the size but as Lance put it on hit just barely fell over his boxers. And the smell..

Yeah. This was Keith's. 

A hot warmth ignited in his belly and Lance felt a sudden urge to go down a glass of ice water to be rid of it.  Instead he positioned the pillow and curled up on the booth couch. A familiar smell overwhelmed him, and he couldn’t fight thoughts as he fell fatigue pulled him to sleep.

The dragon rawred with delight as it swooped down and around Lance as he clung to his giant sunflower. It circled him like a shark, waiting… Lance felt fear spike in him, and then the sunflower started to droop. Lance struggled and swam  up trying to get away, into the dark center of the sunflower, away away away, till he could only see a glimmer of the dragon when he looked back. And now he was completely in darkness. Wait… was this better? He wasn’t sure. He tried swimming but he couldn’t tell if he was moving. And then-

CRASH!!

Lance awoke with a jump. His head had fallen slightly off the couch and under the table so as he woke, he crashed into it. Pain buzzed white hot around his head and he fumbled for a wand he knew wasn’t their.  He tried to stand and felt something sharp hit his foot. Lance, still not really being able to focus having dizzied himself. Grabbed at the blanket and laid it out on the floor before him trying to find his way to the desk lamp.

He didn’t need to.

Thundurus stepps echoed from above and light burst from the stairwell leading upstairs, Keith silhouetted in front. 

“ Stay back!”  Keith shouted and made his way over to the window before leaping out and running on.

Lance… having seen this… realised there was no longer glass in the window. He looked down around at the ground and saw ahead of him, a rock. Well… bigger than your usual skipping stone, more of a misshapen brick. Lance stepped carefully over to the stone and picked it up. Tied with a rubber band was a note. 

“ FUCK YOU CHINK”

Lance frowned with disdain then went to go grab his shoes and sweep up the glass. 

Keith was back a few moments later, huffing and out of breath.

“ They got away. They didn’t even get any money-” Lance held up the note and Keith took it. “ What does it mean.”

“ It's a racial slur. Never heard one?”

“ Maybe. Never to my face.” Yeah. Keith was probably too scary looking. “ So what they broke our window to make fun at me for being… uhh… bad armor?”

Lance found himself chuckling. “ No, it's a slur for someone who’s Chinese.”

“ Wha-” Keith looked dumbfounded. “ But I’m not!” Lance is still Laughing as Keith leans out the window and shouts “ I'M NOT CHINESE!”

Lance is full on laughing at this point, dragging him back inside. 

“ That’s what you're mad about? That’s cold dude.”

“ No. BUt they freaking broke our window! Over something so stupid!! Shiro is gonna kill me.”

“ It’s not your fault.”

“ It was probably those guys from before.”

“ It’s probably your fault.”

Keith fell to sit on the floor, head exhausted between his knees. 

“ Hey…” Lance nudged Keith with his foot and they boy reluctantly looked up. “ I can help.”

“ Shiro will probably be back tomorrow night, he called when I went upstairs....” Lance felt a twinge of annoyance as he was reminded of the fact he stayed behind when Shiro had better options. “ No way we can afford a new window.” Lance sighed.

“ I can take care of it.” Keith looked at him skeptical. “ but you gotta help me finish decorating this place.” Lance had an idea, a tricky one. But he could fix it with magic so long as he provided enough evidence that he somehow didn’t fix it with magic.  

“ I got an uncle in the window biz,” Lance lied, “ I got a favor he owes me, I’ll call it in, get some glass and get it installed.” Well it was almost a lie, Carlos made enchanted windows that displayed different scenes outside the glass took a long time to be enchanted properly to mimic weather outside, after that it could be defeated and controlled easily for nearly ten years. His uncle Carlos did owe him a favor. Lance had spotted traces of a poorly used memory charm on his uncle after having met with a big customer earlier that day, apparently the customer tried to change the agreed upon amount. Unlucky for the scumbag, Aunt Judy is a scribe and had the original contract.

Keith seemed to relax his skeptic look, now looking exhausted. Lance nudged him again with his foot. 

“ Go to bed. So I can sleep.”

“...” Keith looked at the open window. 

“ I’ll sleep down here. I’m worried about the hole.”

“ Fine.” Lance had been hoping he would offer Lance another safer place to stay but then he supposed Keith's privacy hadn’t really shifted. Keith returned with a bed set and sat it up on the floor close to the window and far from Lance. Lance wondered, as Keith’s back was turned to him, if Keith would really sleep.

He didn’t care. He flopped down on the couch, blanket discarded because he couldn’t check it properly for glass, and fell asleep at once.

No dreams came to him.

**Author's Note:**

> Well... let's see how this goes.


End file.
